The pool of interviewees for Crenshaw County’s new superintendent dropped from five to four after Butler County Schools administrative assistant Joseph Eiland bowed out to retain his current position. The Crenshaw County Board held public interviews of the remaining four applicants on Feb. 5 and 6.

The final four under consideration are Jennifer Burt, the career tech director for Butler County Schools, Ashley Catrett, director of assessment and accountability for Crenshaw County Schools, Dodd Hawthorne, director of maintenance and transportation for Crenshaw County Schools, and Donny Powell, principal of Straughn High School in Covington County.

Burt was formerly a finalist for the Butler County Schools superintendent position a year ago.

Crenshaw County Schools Board of Education president Steve Sanders said board members are currently deliberating separately and making individual lists to help narrow the pool of candidates further.

“All of the board will rank their top two,” said Sanders, “and we are going to put those together, and the top two point-getters will be brought back in for another interview.”

The board will meet to determine the final candidates on Friday, Feb. 9, with the follow-up interviews likely taking place the following week.

Sanders said the board decided to expand the process rather than deciding immediately, explaining that “we had some really strong applicants, so we’ll probably narrow it down to two for follow-ups.”

On paper, all of the remaining applicants meet the criteria previously outlined by interim superintendent Dr. Dennis Coe, including “experience at multiple levels and who [understands] Crenshaw County and the operations of a small school system in Alabama.”

The school board is expected to make an announcement on Friday about the final two candidates, as well as the date for the follow-up interviews.