By the end of the day, members of the Alabama Board of Education will very likely have voted to hire the next person to lead the state’s K-12 schools.

Selecting the next state schools’ superintendent has been labeled the “most important decision” the board will make this year by Gov. Kay Ivey and others who witnessed a tumultuous year in during the previous superintendent’s tenure.

Ivey, who serves as President of the board, and interim state Superintendent Ed Richardson have chided board members, telling them they must get this next selection right.

Richardson told board members having four superintendents in less than two years is “a recipe for disaster.” Richardson became interim when the board’s previous pick, former Massachusetts Education Commissioner Michael Sentance resigned in September after 12 months and one day on the job.

During January talks with national search firm Ray and Associates, board members emphasized their desire to hire a candidate familiar with the Alabama political process.

In August 2016, the last time they appointed a superintendent, it took board members, led by former Gov. Robert Bentley, seven rounds of voting before choosing Sentance in a 5-to-4 vote.

Sentance was considered a controversial choice because he had no experience teaching or leading in a school. He ruffled feathers in the education community after saying there was an urgent need to improve Alabama’s education system and moving quickly to make changes he said were necessary.

Those outside of education saw Sentance as a breath of fresh air, unafraid to challenge a status quo they said kept Alabama at the bottom of state comparisons of education systems.

Educators across Alabama rejected Sentance’s ideas for change in large part because of his lack of experience in the classroom. Sentance resigned, or rather was pushed out by a board dissatisfied with his performance, before his initiatives could be fully implemented.

Given that experience, board members will likely choose a more traditional superintendent — likely a former teacher, principal, or local superintendent.

On April 13, search firm Chairman Gary Ray said there were 41 applicants for the Alabama job, which the firm narrowed to seven semifinalists: three from Alabama and four from other southern states.

Board members decided to interview four finalists. An alternate was named in case one of the four dropped out, but so far, no one has.

All three Alabama candidates became finalists, with the Texas candidate coming in fourth.

The finalists are School Superintendents of Alabama Executive Director Eric Mackey, Hoover City Schools Superintendent Kathy Murphy, Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Craig Pouncey, and former Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott.

The Alabama candidates each started their careers in the classroom, ending up as superintendent of an Alabama school district. The fourth, from Texas, has no experience in the classroom.

Next up: the interviews

The board will interview the four finalists in a special 10 a.m. called meeting in Montgomery.

Each candidate will have an hour to make their case and answer questions. Communications Director Michael Sibley will ask each candidate the same set of questions.

The meeting will be livestreamed on the department’s website.

The first interview starts at 10:30 a.m. and all interviews should conclude by 3:30 p.m. board members will then complete a scoring rubric, comparing each candidate to the other. The order of candidate interviews has not been published.

Candidates will be sequestered during the process and will not have access to any electronic devices, according to Sibley.

The board is scheduled to select a superintendent at 4:30 p.m. All candidates are scheduled to stay in the building until the selection is made, Sibley said.

So who will get the job?

Looking at the candidates on paper, there are some superficial factors that seem to give some candidates an edge, but four hours of interviews should have a huge influence on the final selection.

Given board members’ past experience with Sentance, it seems unlikely they would hire a candidate with no teaching or administrative experience, likely limiting former Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott’s chances.

Given that all of Alabama’s superintendents have been males, it may be tough for Hoover City Schools Superintendent Kathy Murphy to break that glass ceiling. Maybe the board (eight of the nine are female) might be willing to break that trend.

Mackey and Pouncey are both are well known to board members and have a lot of experience in Montgomery. Each has their supporters, so it will likely come down to what board members hear in the interviews.

The search firm has a two-year guarantee, meaning if the candidate the board hires leaves or is let go within two years of their hire, Ray and Associates will come back and do it all over again for only the cost of travel and production expenses. This search cost $50,000.

Links to the full packet of information board members received about each of the finalists are included in the descriptions below.

Here’s a little more about the job and the candidates.

The job

The Alabama State Superintendent of Education is appointed by the the Alabama Board of Education. Eight of the elected positions are by district, and the ninth member is the Governor of Alabama, who serves as President.

The state chief will oversee the education of more than 730,000 students in 1,500 schools in 137 school districts. The K-12 education budget for the current year is more than $8 billion in combined state, federal and local spending. The state superintendent oversees combined federal and state spending, amounting to around $5 billion. Local superintendents are in charge of local tax dollars.

The pay

The amount listed in the online job notice ranged from $192,000 to $250,000, plus “an excellent comprehensive benefits package.” Search firm Chairman Gary Ray told board members they need to consider the higher end of the scale as the appropriate level of pay for the job.

The listing states the final pay “will be negotiated and determined based upon proven experience, qualifications and meeting Board criteria.”

The expectations

The state superintendent serves at the pleasure of the board. The contract will dictate the terms of employment.

Board members determined what they want in the next state superintendent. Of note is the requirement stating, “proven skills in working with political leaders at the state level.” This is one area Richardson harps on with board members: no one has been managing the relationship between lawmakers and the department of education. And lawmakers determine how much money Alabama’s K-12 schools get.

Here’s the full list of criteria the board wanted in the next superintendent, taken from the online flyer announcing the opening.

The finalists

Eric Mackey

Current position: Executive Director of the School Superintendents of Alabama, Montgomery, Alabama. SSA is a state-level advocacy and membership group composed of local superintendents in Alabama.

Previous education experience (in chronological order): Teacher, Saks High School, Calhoun County Schools, 1993-1997; Assistant Principal and Teacher, Pleasant Valley School, Jacksonville City Schools, 1997-1999; Principal, Kitty Stone Elementary in Jacksonville City Schools, 1999-2002; Superintendent, Jacksonville City Schools, 2002-2010; Associate Director, School Superintendents of Alabama, 2010 (eight months), Executive Director, School Superintendents of Alabama, 2010-present.

College degrees: Ed.D., Educational Leadership, University of Alabama, 2001; Ed.S., Educational Leadership, University of Alabama, 1998; Master of Arts, Biology Education, University of Alabama, 1995; Bachelor of Science, General Science, Jacksonville State University, 1992.

Current salary: $232,000

Annual budget overseen: $1.3 million

References on application: Matt Akin, Superintendent, Huntsville City Schools; Karen DeLano, Auburn City Schools; Jeff Goodwin, Oxford City Schools; John Heard, Superintendent, Perry County Schools.