The Houston board of education on Monday night announced three finalists to become superintendent of the school district. A hiring could come as soon as this Wednesday evening.
The candidates are:
Dr. Fred Czerwonka, middle school principal at West Plains.
Dr. Dan Vandiver, assistant superintendent at Hollister.
Nathan Holder, superintendent at Raymondville.
The three candidates will be formally introduced this Wednesday night at a forum at the elementary gymnasium beginning at 7.
Each candidate will speak for 10-15 minutes before those gathered. The finalists will take questions from the public for about 15 to 20 minutes. Each finalist will appear separately at the forum in the absence of the other two.
Dr. Tom Dunn, president of the Houston board of education, said 22 applications were received to replace Clinton Waters, who is retiring at the end of the school year. The board met last Monday to review resumes and narrowed the field to six who were interviewed on Saturday.
Among the finalists are two Houston High School graduates. Vandiver, a 1981 HHS graduate, has been in administration for nine years. He became assistant superintendent in 2006. He was high school principal there beginning in 2003 before taking his current job. He is a former high school principal at Twin Rivers and an assistant high school principal at Mountain Grove and Holden. He previously taught social studies and journalism.
Holder, superintendent at Raymondville for about 1 1/2 years and elementary principal two years previously at Plato, graduated from HHS in 1993. He was principal at Bourbon for a year. He also has teaching experience.
Czerwonka, a native of Doniphan, was a teacher before entering administration eight years ago. He has been at West Plains for about five years.