The three finalists for Palmerton Area School District’s next superintendent will address the community Wednesday night during an event in the high school auditorium.

Beginning at 6 p.m., the finalists will each have a presentation and then respond to prepared questions by the school board.

“All staff and community alike are invited to attend,” interim Palmerton superintendent Dr. Alan Lonoconus said in an email this week. “Each candidate will have an hour in front of the public.”

According to Lonoconus, 21 people applied for the position, and the list was narrowed down to eight by the school board, with assistance from the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.

With one candidate choosing not to attend, seven candidates went through first-round interviews.

“In assisting the board, I can tell you they were very thorough and intense,” Lonoconus said.

The board, he added, instructed him to set up second round interviews and outline the next steps in the process, which includes Wednesday’s community night.

Following that event, each candidate will spend a full day on campus, which will include tours of each building in the morning and interview sessions in the afternoon. The candidates will meet with support staff representatives, the administrative staff, central office staff, the instructional staff, and some junior and senior high school students.

“The board is interested in all stakeholders’ input in the process,” Lonoconus said.

Final interviews will be conducted on Feb. 16, and the goal, he added, is to have a finalist named and hired by the March 17 board meeting.

Palmerton school board and prior Superintendent Scot Engler reached a mutual separation agreement in May 2019. After that, the district’s human resources director, Thomas McLaughlin, doubled as acting superintendent until October, when Lonoconus was hired.