A half dozen finalists for Lawrence High School principal will interview this week with two committees of teachers, students and parents, officials said Monday.

“We have six highly qualified candidates, any one of whom could be selected,” Supt. Randy Weseman after delivering the list to the school board.

The LHS committees will meet candidates before sharing impressions with Weseman, who is responsible for making the selection. A new principal is expected to be hired in February.

Here are the finalists:

• Carter Burns Jr., principal since 1993 of Buffalo Grove High School in Arlington Heights, Ill. He previously was chair of educational administration at Emporia State University, Olathe North High School principal and a fifth-grade teacher at Schwegler School in Lawrence.
• Darren Dennis, principal of Ottawa High School since 1999. He was an assistant principal at Lee’s Summit North High School and principal at Burrton High School.
• Tammy Heenan, associate principal at LHS since 2001. She is a former principal and assistant principal at Chase Middle School in Topeka.
• Steven Nilhas, Hill City superintendent since 1999. He also is an instructor at Fort Hays State University and was a secondary principal at Grainfield.
• Archie Poplin, principal of Baldwin High School, having served as assistant principal there from 1992 to 2001. He also was a middle school principal in Hiawatha and junior high science teacher in Kansas City, Kan.
• Steve Shelton, principal since 2001 at Gardner-Edgerton High School. He was associate principal at Shawnee Mission North High School, athletic director and head football coach at Shawnee Mission West High School and a science teacher at Atchison Middle School.

The next LHS principal will replace Dick Patterson, who has held the job since 1997 and plans to retire in May.

More than 30 people applied for the job, and preference was given to candidates with experience managing at the secondary level.

The annual salary is about $90,000, plus benefits.