Few school district board positions have received this much attention.

Hopefully the wait to fill the Zone 1 trustee position on the Coeur d'Alene School District board will be over after next week, when the Kootenai County commissioners interview the six applicants for the vacant seat.

"This is uncharted territory," acknowledged Commissioner Dan Green. "We (the commissioners) are going to work in the spirit of cooperation with the trustees, but ultimately it's the board's decision."

For the first time that school and county officials know of, the commissioners are charged with appointing the trustee instead of the school district board, as state statute dictates when a seat has been vacant over 120 days.

The school board's previous appointment to the Zone 1 seat was declared invalid by a First District Court judge, who deemed the board had not followed legal procedure for the vote.

The applicants to be interviewed this Thursday by the commissioners and the four school board trustees include: Wanda Quinn, Duncan Koler, Christa Hazel, Casey Morrisroe, James Purtee and Luke Sommer.

"I would hope," Green said of whether the commissioners will make a decision on Thursday night, after the interviews. "But it's not a guarantee."

The interviews are scheduled for 5 p.m. on April 26 in meeting room 1A/1B of the county Administration Building at 451 Government Way. The interviews are open to the public.

"I think it's a very charged climate. It's always difficult when somebody is picked and somebody isn't," Green said when asked if he anticipated a difficult decision. "You can have one person happy and five people disappointed."

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The applicants for the position all make a case for why they should be selected:

Wanda Quinn

The application process is old hat by now for Wanda Quinn, a past board member from 1994 to 2006. She was also the applicant the school district had appointed to the Zone 1 position last year, before the appointment was nullified.

Although "I don't think anybody likes the process of interviewing," Quinn acknowledged, the program development specialist for the University of Idaho-Coeur d'Alene feels she still brings experience and ambition to the table.

"I don't think it was a question of my qualifications," she noted of the nullified appointment.

Quinn, whose three children were all educated in and graduated from the Coeur d'Alene School district, said her chief aim if appointed would be to help implement new education initiatives.

"We need to make sure we implement those in a cohesive manner, so they're integrated in an efficient manner," she said.

The initiatives Quinn has an eye on include the Common Core State Standards aiming to create a nationwide curriculum and assessment standards for language arts and math, and the state education reforms from the Students Come First legislation.

Quinn said she can rely on her past experience on the school board, and the knowledge she has gained in her position at U of I.

"I'm aware of what's going on with most of the programs the state has implemented with the Coeur d'Alene School District and other districts," she said.

Quinn, who lives in Fernan Village in the district's Zone 1, has a bachelor's in teaching from the University of Washington, a master's in administration from U of I-Coeur d'Alene and a Juris Doctor law degree from Gonzaga University.

She has previously worked as a teacher at Lake Washington School District. She was also previously supervisor of student teachers, then adjunct professor of education law at U of I-Coeur d'Alene.

Quinn is a commissioner of the Idaho Public Charter School Commission and a member of the Idaho Education Network Strategic Planning Committee. She is past president of the Idaho School Board Association.

Christa Hazel

Christa Hazel is well versed in Coeur d'Alene School District issues, she said, after serving four years on the district's Long Term Planning Committee, one year as chair.

"I've volunteered for many years in the school district, and I feel I'm qualified," said Hazel, also vice president of the PTA at Bryan Elementary, where her two children attend.

Hazel, who applied for the Zone 1 trustee seat last May, said she is applying again because of the many issues the district board will face in the coming year.

"I believe our district would be best served by someone who has a working knowledge of the district," she said.

Hazel helped the LRPC develop the 10-Year comprehensive plan, she said, which identifies facility and program priorities in the school district. She hopes the plan will be addressed with the $32.7 million bond the school district is asking voters for this year, she said.

Hazel, who lives in Coeur d'Alene and in Zone 1, has also served as a board member of the nonprofit Excel Foundation, which raises money to fund programs in the school district.

The now stay-at-home mom has an associates degree in political science from North Idaho College, as well as a bachelor's in political science and a Juris Doctor law degree from U of I.

Hazel also brings business experience like managing budgets, she stated, after working as vice president of Manis Investigations, a corporate security consulting company in Coeur d'Alene.

"I gained experience in the daily operations of a small business, managing multiple locations, contractors and clients," she stated in her letter of interest to the county.

Hazel also previously worked as judicial prosecutor at U of I in Moscow.

She was educated in the Coeur d'Alene School District from elementary school through her high school graduations, she added on Wednesday.

"I'm a public school system kid, through and through," Hazel said.

Casey Morrisroe:

After receiving an education in the Coeur d'Alene School District, and with four young children about to do the same, Casey Morrisroe said he has plenty of investment in seeing the district thrive.

"We figured we've got 18 years ahead of us putting kids through Coeur d'Alene schools," said Morrisroe, who has 2, 4 and 8-year-old daughters and a baby due in July. "I wanted to be involved."

The owner and general manager of Specialty Recreation and Marine, LLC, in Coeur d'Alene said his business expertise would serve the board of trustees well.

Morrisroe, a Coeur d'Alene and Zone 1 resident, is familiar with developing budgets, managing employees and payrolls, and acquiring products, according to his resume.

"I make tough decisions every day, dealing with finances and policies," he said. "I think I can come in with that background and help in these tough decisions. There are a lot of changes in Idaho education right now."

If appointed, Morrisroe hopes to help monitor the implementation of the new state education reforms, he said, which include online learning and performance pay for teachers.

He would also aim at improving public perception of the school district board, he said.

"I think that's the biggest hurdle," Morrisroe said, adding that he feels there is a disconnect between trustees and parents. "Earning their trust back and not feel secretive, but be open with schools and parents."

Morrisroe has a bachelor's in business management and a bachelor's in marketing with a minor in communications, all from Arizona State University. He also attended classes at NIC.

Morrisroe has also been a board member of Rinker Boats National Dealer Council in Syracuse, Ind.

"I'm coming to help and make sure my kids and their friends and my nieces and nephews get a great education, just like I did," he said.

Duncan Koler:

Attorney Duncan Koler said he hopes to continue the positive changes he has observed in the school district board since the last trustees election.

"They've made some important changes, including public input. I think that's very important," said Koler,

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who lives in Hayden Lake and in Zone 1.

Koler aims at maintaining financial scrutiny, too, he said, and trustee oversight of policy.

He also wants to ensure the district maintains local control of curriculum as Students Come First is implemented, he added.

"Curriculum is really important to me," said Koler, who has a child attending school in the district and another who graduated from the district. "We could use more parental input in the process of curriculum vetting and selection."

Long outspoken against the International Baccalaureate program, Koler said as trustee he would hope to investigate more into the program's cost and success.

"I think it's an expensive program, it duplicates AP, which is successful, and so far the results have not been good," he said of IB. "It deserves further scrutiny and potential elimination."

Koler has been in business 27 years as a practicing attorney, he added, which he said qualifies him to serve as a trustee.

"I have broad experience in business, dealing with financial issues, personnel issues, and negotiations is something we do a lot of in law," Koler said.

Koler has a bachelor's in political science from Washington State University and a Juris Doctor law degree from the California Western School of Law in San Diego.

"I like working with people. I'm energetic," Koler said. "I've got a strong interest in education and seeing our kids get the best possible education."

James Purtee:

James Purtee ran for trustee three years ago and applied for the Zone 1 position last year, he said, because he considers it an opportunity to give back to the community.

"I want to offer my life experiences," said Purtee, owner of Jimmy's Down the Street Restaurant in Coeur d'Alene.

After 45 years in business, primarily in the restaurant industry and in promotional marketing and advertising, Purtee considers himself suited to address issues the school district must face.

"I have a full understanding and wide range of disciplines, in finance, personnel, negotiating and problem solving," Purtee said.

His three children had gone through public school before he moved to Coeur d'Alene, he said.

Purtee, who lives in Zone 1, said he attended West Valley College in Saratoga, Calif. and also Faulkner University in Montgomery, Ala., but that education was interrupted when he enlisted in the Navy to serve in Vietnam for four years.

Purtee has also studied business at the University of Florida. He doesn't have a degree.

"I believe it's important to give back to the community," Purtee said.

Luke Sommer:

Coeur d'Alene Realtor Luke Sommer said he can bring critical thinking, as well as an understanding of "Americanism and American history" to the board that he believes has long been lacking, especially among the previous board members who had illegally appointed Quinn last summer.

"It cuts both ways. Either they saw the issue and went against it, or they couldn't see the issue and still went against," Sommer said of the state statute the board violated in voting her in.

Sommer's goal is to focus on students' education, he said, which he considers himself an authority after homeschooling two of five children and seeing them graduate at 14 and 16.

"A lot of what we've focused on hasn't been the education of the child," he said, adding that he has attended many school district meetings.

Another of his children attended school in the Coeur d'Alene School District last year, he said, but is not attending now.

Sommer would need to analyze the school system before he could determine how to improve education, he said.

Sommer has been a Realtor for 24 years. He has a diploma in pastoral studies with a Greek minor from Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, which he received before a bachelor's degree was offered there. He also has a bachelor's in religious studies from Trinity Western University in British Columbia.

Sommer studied for one session at International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.

He also attended the Simon Greenleaf School of Law in California, but did not graduate.

Sommer, also president of the Panhandle Pachyderm Club, lives in the school district Zone 4. School district residents outside Zone 1 can fill that trustee seat until June 30, 2013, the end of the term, but cannot run for re-election.

"I'm objective, and at the same time, I can see certain procedural irregularities that are common at the board level and need to changed," Sommer said.