The Huntsville City Board of Education is hoping to name a successor to Christie Finley as superintendent as early as mid-June.

The board is accepting applications through May 26 in its search. It has also named chief of staff Clarence Sutton as interim superintendent when Finley’s retirement becomes effective June 1. Finley has served as superintendent for five years.

“If the board meets their very fast deadline, he may only be interim for a couple of weeks,” said Huntsville City Schools attorney Christopher Pape, whose firm Lanier Ford is assisting with the search.

The board is targeting a June 13 vote on a new superintendent.

Sutton was promoted to chief of staff in December, Pape said. He previously served as deputy superintendent of learning supports, a role he is still filling.

Pape said the board is expected to vote on a “bare-bones” contract for Sutton at its Thursday meeting.

Board members will begin ranking applicants after the application period closes. Pape said board members individually rank their top five choices in compliance with Alabama’s open meeting law.

The board will select three finalists based on the ranking system. The three finalists will then be contacted to set up interviews. The finalists will be announced to the public at a meeting on June 6.

“We’ll have a PowerPoint where we will have the names of each person, a quick snippet of their background, and the board between June 7-12 will schedule public interviews,” Pape said. “My guess is that with only three finalists, those interviews will all be on the same day. The public can come and attend those.”

He said the interviews will not be live-streamed “as not to give any of the applicants a leg up to hear what the other finalists say.” But the interviews will be recorded and the recordings will be posted for the public to view after the interviews are finished.

The board approved the search process at its meeting on April 25, with the position posting the next day.

The qualifications include general fitness and character appropriate to the position; a doctoral degree in education from an accredited college or university; a certification in administration; 10 years of educational administrative experience (assistant principal, principal, and district administrator); 15 years preferred; successful experience in and general knowledge of public school administration; and such other minimum qualifications as may be established by statute or the State Board of Education.

The total compensation package for the position, including salary, will be between $190,000 to $285,000. Depending on the circumstances, the board may select a lower or higher amount.

Scott Turner reports from Huntsville for the Lede.