idate interviews will be conducted by the Dayton School Board and administration, followed by a community forum where the candidates can be heard on February 10. The forum is to be held in the Dayton High School Auditorium at 6:30-7:30 p.m. Both staff and the community are encouraged to attend.

During the Dayton School Board of Directors' special meeting last Wednesday, the board reviewed applications for the superintendent position and decided on the following candidates to be interviewed:

-Effie Dean, Assistant Superintendent, Royal School District, Wash. Dean has 29 years of experience in education, most of which has been spent serving rural districts in Washington, including Davenport School District and Reardan-Edwall School District. She is currently Assistant Superintendent at Royal School District and has a doctorate in educational leadership from Washington State University. Her mission in education has been "to improve the academic success of ALL children," according to biographical information provided by the district.

-Guy Strot, Principal, Kalama School District, Wash. Strot has 17 years of experience in education. He is currently in his fifth year as a principal at Kalama School District, and previously served as a teacher and principal in the Lind-Ritzville Cooperative Schools. He has a Masters of Teaching from Concordia University and his philosophy in education is to provide "whatever it takes for the students to be successful," the district's information indicated.

-Andie Webb, Principal, Hoquiam School District, Wash. Webb has 25 years of experience in education, with 11 as high school teacher and 14 as administrator. She is currently an elementary school principal at Hoquiam School District. In addition to serving students across Washington and parts of Oregon throughout her career, she has worked internationally at American international schools in The Kingdom of Bahrain and Jordan. She earned her doctorate in educational leadership from Washington State University. Her personal goal is to "serve and celebrate those around me and be accessible, as well as visible throughout the school and community," according to the district's biographical information.

Last November, Superintendent Doug Johnson stated he will retire at the end of the school year. This announcement started the search for a predecessor.

Board Member Justin Jaech said of the candidates, "We are very happy with the quality of the candidates." Katie Leid, Board Chair enthusiastically agreed.

The Dayton School Board will meet following the interviews to deliberate. The final selection will be announced by February 19, 2020. Once the candidate accepts the offer for the position, he or she will begin July 1, 2020.

The district is working with the Educational Service District (ESD) 123, based out of Pasco, Wash., in the process of initially finding these candidates through the hiring of one of them. ESD 123 is one of nine ESDs in Washington and serves 23 school districts. http://www.esd123.org.