The Baldwin City community will have the opportunity during the next week to meet the four candidates vying to become the school district’s next superintendent.

Kelley Bethel-Smith, Baldwin City school district board president, said the board agreed to trim a list of superintendent candidates to four finalists. Each finalist will be scheduled to make a daylong visit to the community with visitation dates set for Wednesday, Thursday, Dec. 20 and Dec. 21, Bethel-Smith said.

The name of each finalist will be released at 8 p.m. the day before that person’s visit, Bethel-Smith said. Each candidate will arrive at the district at 10 a.m., tour district schools and facilities, and meet with the district administrative and community team before interviewing in executive session with the board. The visitation day will conclude with a meet-and-greet session with the community from 5:30 to 6:15 p.m. at Baldwin Junior High School.

The board will meet in executive session at 7 p.m. after the last candidate visit Dec. 21 to select the person who will succeed Superintendent Paul Dorathy, who announced in October that he was retiring after 16 years with the district. The name of the new superintendent will not be announced until the chosen candidate signs a contract, Bethel-Smith said.

The candidate pool reflects the qualifications and traits identified in a survey of experience and innovative thinking, Bethel-Smith said.

“Education changed drastically during the pandemic, so experience was so very, very important, yet we want someone who can think out of the box,” she said.

The board also is thankful that Dorathy announced his impending retirement early in the school year so that the district could search for his replacement without the competition of other districts it would have had in the spring.

Dorathy’s final day as district superintendent will be June 30. His replacement will start the next day with the beginning of the new fiscal year.