With advisory committees of teachers, parents and students coming together, Lawrence’s superintendent hopes to select a new Free State High School principal next month.

“I believe you try to expose people to a variety of candidates,” Superintendent Randy Weseman said. “We’ll see if we have the makings of a consensus. There’s a lot of different constituencies to appeal to.”

Free State’s first and only principal, Joe Snyder, announced in February he would retire at the end of the school year. He has served as principal since 1996, one year before the building opened in August 1997.

District administrators will advertise the position until March 28. Weseman said applications are coming in, and he called the search “wide open” with potential candidates coming from both inside and outside the district.

As for the search process, a team of district administrators will screen the applicants and forward four to six names to the three advisory committees, who will conduct interviews with them through the first 10 days of April.

Weseman told the advisory committees that he maintains “51 percent of the decision-making.” But he will gauge feedback from the three groups, and try to select the best candidate based on a consensus.

According to the advertisement, the job includes a salary range of $85,000 to $105,000 plus benefits. It also includes a list of 45 responsibilities and nine “essential skills and abilities,” including planning for the needs of “exceptional learners and motivating staff to effectively address these learners’ needs.”