The Wake County school board has picked four semi-finalists tonight for the position of superintendent.

The names are being kept secret. But school board chairman Keith Sutton said they’re all veteran educators who are currently serving in leadership positions in their respective school districts, ranging in size from 30,000 students to close to Wake’s size of 150,000 students.

“They’re all highly qualified, very capable of running the district,” Sutton said. “They stood out above the rest.”

The Wake County school board is now meeting in closed session to determine who will make the list of semi-finalists for the superintendent's position.

A total of 25 people applied but two later withdrew. The board will review the list of seven applicants recommended by the search firm of McPherson & Jacobson and the 16 other candidates.

School board chairman Keith Sutton said his goal is to end the meeting with a maximum of six semi-finalists.

If all goes to schedule, the Wake County school board should end the day with semi-finalists chosen for the superintendent's position.

The board will meet in closed session to review all the applications, including the ones recommended by the search firm of McPherson & Jacobson. The board will attempt to lock down the semi-finalists so that interviews can be conducted next week.

The names of the semi-finalists will be confidential.

There is a new Triangle school board member on the steering committee of the National School Boards Association's Council of Urban Boards of Education.

But it's not Wake County school board chairman Keith Sutton, who was nominated from the floor but not elected during the recently concluded annual NSBA conference. Sutton had told school board members he intended to seek a leadership position on CUBE.

Instead, a press release sent Tuesday afternoon announced that Minnie Forte-Brown was elected chair of CUBE's 16-member steering committee. Forte-Brown is vice chair of the Durham school board.

But it still might have been a successful conference for Wake. The application deadline for superintendent had been extended a week to allow a recruiter from McPherson & Jacobson to meet with possible candidates at the conference.

For at least some Wake County school employees, there's a climate of fear and lack of trust that permeates the district.

As noted in today's article, a report summarizing feedback on the superintendent search revealed concerns about the school board and the work environment. Some of the commenters specifically blamed former Superintendent Tony Tata while others made comments that could be linked to him.

Obviously Tata was liked by some people, shown by the seven school district employees who chose to join him at the state Department of Transportation. But at least some of those who remained didn't like his new leadership style.

So which groups got invitations to meet with McPherson & Jacboson, the firm that will hold meetings the next three days to get feedback on the Wake County school superintendent search?

The groups are broadly defined as the "business community, elected officials, parent leaders, African-American community, multicultural community, employee leadership and student leaders."

This list from the school system reveals some interesting names. These are the groups that the school system suggested should receive invites.

The Wake County school system has announced the variety of times that public meetings will be held March 25-27 to get feedback on the superintendent search.

Various times have been set up on all three days for individual groups defined by the district as elected officials, parent leaders, African-American community, multicultural community, employee leadership and student leaders.

Individual groups were invited to attend, but all members of the public are invited to comment at the daytime session that best matches their interest and/or the evening community forums.

The goal of the sessions is for McPherson & Jacobson, the search firm, to find out what qualities the public wants in the next superintendent.

Should the Wake County school board release to the public the names of the finalists for school superintendent?

As noted in today's article, the board will hold off until closer to May 8 to make the decision on what to do with the names of the finalists. That date will coincide with when they'll pick the semi-finalists.

The question is what to do when the board whittles it down to two or three finalists by the end of May.

The Wake County school board is supposed to set the ground rules tonight for the superintendent search.

At this evening's meeting, the board will establish the calendar for the search, establish selection criteria, discuss how the position will be advertised and discuss the compensation parameters for the new superintendent.

The board will also identify which groups and individuals will reeve personal invitations to meet with McPherson & Jacobson, the search firm, to discuss what they want in the next superintendent.

As for interim Superintendent Stephen Gainey, he declined comment Tuesday on whether he will apply for the permanent position. He said that doing so would negatively impact the search at this early stage.

The Wake County school system is looking for public input on what qualities are wanted in the next superintendent.

Wake County residents are urged to go to the district’s website, www.wcpss.net, to take a brief online survey about what they’d like to see in the next superintendent. The district is seeking a permanent replacement for Tony Tata, who was fired in September.

The survey is supposed to go live at some point tonight.

McPherson & Jacobson, the firm hired by the school board to conduct a national search, will develop a recruitment timeline, meet with groups, solicit public input to create a profile of the district and recruit candidates whose qualifications and attributes match that profile.