By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

HOOVER—The search for the next superintendent of the Hoover City School System has been narrowed to five candidates, revealed to the Board of Education during an April 14 special-called meeting at Spain Park High School.

Dr. Kendy Behrends, education consultant with the Alabama Association of School Boards, announced Dr. John D. Barge, Dr. Charles L. Ledbetter, Dr. Chris J. Marczak, Dr. Kathy L. Murphy and Dr. Paul V. Wilson have been selected as the five finalists for the Hoover BOE to consider for the superintendent position.

These five candidates were selected from a pool of 31 completed applications, representing 15 states including Alabama, Behrends explained.

Barge is currently the Georgia State Superintendent of Schools. He has extensive experience as an educator, both as a classroom teacher and college professor, and as an administrator. He has served in his current position with the Georgia Department of Education since 2011.

Ledbetter is currently the Superintendent of the Dublin City School System, in Dublin, Ga. Prior to taking the position in Georgia in 2009, Ledbetter worked as a teacher, coach and administrator at Sparta Academy, Walker County and Tallapoosa County schools in Alabama.

Marczak is the assistant superintendent of Oak Ridge City Schools in Tennessee. He has experience as a classroom teacher in both Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools and Wilson County Schools in Tennessee, and held various administrative roles in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools.

Murphy has been the superintendent of Monroe County Public Schools since 2011. She began her career as a physical education teacher with Auburn City Schools in 1984, and since served in numerous administrative roles with both Troy City Schools and Butler County Schools. She also taught at the college level.

Wilson is currently the superintendent of Hartselle City Schools. He began as a teacher in the Shelby County School System in 1995, and was both a principal and assistant principal at Mountain Brook and Homewood City Schools.

The BOE will tentatively interview one candidate each day from April 20-27 beginning at 5:30 p.m. and followed by a reception at 7:30 p.m. Both interviews and the receptions are open to the public. The BOE has not yet determined a location for the interviews and reception.

Interviews will be filmed and posted on the Hoover City Schools website for the public to view.