The Bellevue school board has narrowed down the search for a new superintendent to three finalist out of the 32 who applied for the job. The school district has been without a permanent superintendent for more than a year now. The school board plans to offer the job to one of the three finalist by the end of this month.

The district’s former superintendent, Mike Riley, led Bellevue for 11 years and left in November 2007 for a job with the College Board in Virginia. Less than a year later, he died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 58. The Bellevue School District appointed Karen Clark as the Interim Superintendent in December 2007.

Over the past 15 months, the board has brought in an outside search agency and consultant to help narrow down qualified applicants.

The candidates are:

Susan Enfield, the deputy superintendent of the Evergreen Public Schools in Vancouver, Wash. She has been the Director of the Office of Teaching and Learning for the Portland Public Schools, and Bureau Director of Teaching and Learning Support for the Pennsylvania Department of Education. She received her Ph.D. from the Urban Superintendents Program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Dr. Enfield will visit the Bellevue School District on Wednesday, March 18.

Stephen Fink, in charge of the University of Washington’s Center for Educational Leadership. Dr. Fink served as the Assistant Superintendent, Director of Special Programs, and Executive Director for Student Services for the Edmonds School District. He also served as a principal at the Idaho State School for the Deaf and Blind. He received his Ph.D. from Brigham Young University. Dr. Fink will visit the Bellevue School District on Thursday, March 19.

Amalia Cudeiro, a senior partner at Targeted Leadership Consulting. Dr. Cudeiro is presently a Senior Partner at Targeted Leadership Consulting. She has been Adjunct Lecturer at Harvard University Urban Superintendents Program, Deputy Superintendent for the Boston Public Schools, and Principal at both the Santa Monica Unified School District and the Baldwin Park Unified School District, in California. She received her Ph.D. from Harvard University. Dr. Cudeiro will visit the Bellevue School District on Friday, March 20.

Candidate forums for BSD staff will run from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in the Wilburton Instructional Service Center (WISC), 12241 Main Street, in the Rainier Room. Staff will be asked to share their thoughts about the candidates on feedback forms that will be handed out at the sessions.

Staff members who can’t get to the forums by 3:30 are welcome to attend the public sessions, which will go from 5-6:30 p.m. in the same location. The forums will be streamed live and posted later on the BSD Website for viewing at www.bsd405.org.

Lindsay Larin can be reached at 425.453.4602.