By Christian Coffman

VIDALIA — Concordia Parish School Board members discussed Thursday the next steps in the process to locate the district’s next superintendent.

School board attorney Jon Guice reviewed the process with school board members, now that the board has completed advertising for applicants.

Six candidates applied for the position to replace Loretta Blankenstein, who has been leading the school district in an interim capacity. Blankenstein stepped in after Paul Nelson resigned in December 2015.

Guice said the next steps for board members is to review the applications to determine which candidates meet the requirements to be superintendent.

“You’ve got to review the applications to see if those (who) applied are properly certified to be superintendent,” Guice said. “The hiring of the superintendent should be contingent on the fact that they are certified.”

Guice recommended the board ask officials outside the Concordia Parish School District to review the applications, to make the process more transparent and unbiased.

“It’s so that there’s not a dog in the hunt,” Guice said.

The board has yet to review the applications. Once the applications are vetted, Guice said the board must decide which candidates to interview.

The board must then set a date and time for an interview. Guice said an executive session may also be necessary after each interview  for any questions about confidential information.

Guice said finalists may be selected for a second interview, which may also include a social function for finalists to meet members of the public.

Once the second interviews are complete, the board may vote on the next superintendent. The final vote must be a majority of the entire board, Guice said.

After a superintendent is elected, Guice said board president Riley and vice president Cheryl Probst will  meet with the chosen candidate to discuss terms.

Each school board member plans to  come back on April 13 with 10 possible questions for the interview process, after which they will begin interviews.