QUINCY - Seven people will be invited to participate in the first round of interviews for position of Quincy School District superintendent. The interviews will be March 12 and 13, board chair Tricia Lubach said.

The board will interview Kathie Brown, principal at Mountain View Elementary in Quincy; John Boyd, executive director of instructional leadership for the Highline School District; and Martin Brewer, superintendent of the Pioneer School District in Shelton. Also chosen for interviews were Lois Davies, Pateros School District superintendent; Karen Ernest, Mossyrock School District superintendent; Craig Dwight, director and principal of the Yakima Skills Center, Yakima School District; and Mark Davalos, superintendent in the St. Helens School District in northwestern Oregon.

The candidate selected will replace Burton Dickerson, who announced that he will retire at the end of the 2013-14 school year.

All seven candidates will be asked identical questions, Lubach said. The interviews will be conducted in front of the "interview observer committee," 20 Quincy district patrons, including parents, aides, teachers and administrators. "The committee's job is to observe and listen," Lubach said.

Committee members will write down their impressions, which will be submitted to the school board. Board members will use that information to help cut the list to three finalists. The finalists will be announced about March 14. Lubach said.

All three finalists will be invited to town for one day of interviews, probably March 18, Lubach said. Candidates will meet with the school board, district administrators and office staff, the current superintendent and in two public forums, she said.

Eleven people applied for the job, Lubach said.

The seven candidates have "a broad range of skills and experience from large to small districts in both rural and urban areas," Lubach wrote. "Most of the candidates have experience working in school districts with similar demographics to Quincy School District's."

Board members plan to announce the new superintendent sometime during the week of March 24, Lubach said.