Topeka ? The Kansas State Board of Education has selected five finalists for the education commissioner job and will interview those candidates during a special meeting next week.

“I’m very optimistic about some really good candidates,” Board Chairman Bill Wagnon, D-Topeka, said.

Wagnon refused to release the finalists’ names, saying the board had promised them secrecy during the interview process. He said three were from out of state and two were from Kansas.

He said he hoped the board would pick a new commissioner by the day after the interviews or narrow the field to two candidates.

Interviews will be conducted behind closed doors from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. April 26 at the Kansas State Department of Education boardroom.

The next commissioner will fill a vacancy created by Bob Corkins, the controversial education commissioner installed by conservatives on the board in 2005. Corkins resigned when moderates gained control of the board.

Wagnon said 17 or 18 people had applied for the job. The board narrowed that number to 11 and then five, he said.

Among those who applied was Steve Woolf, Tonganoxie Middle School principal.

“I was disappointed I didn’t get an interview,” Woolf said Tuesday.

But Woolf had a backup plan. In July, he’ll become principal at Turner Middle School in Kansas City, Kan.