Eighteen people have applied to be Petersburg’s next school superintendent.

Current superintendent Rob Thomason is stepping down at the end of the school year and is coordinating the search for his replacement. “As with any search of this sort you’re gonna get a range but I really feel like we have some at the upper end that are intriguing to us and I think have some good skills that are worthy of strong consideration for Petersburg,” Thomason said.

The school district released a list of names of the applicants after it was requested by the Petersburg Pilot.

Several current and former Alaskans have applied.

Scott Butterfield is the superintendent of the Chatham school district and lives in Angoon. Another applicant from Southeast is Nancy Moon, an elementary principal from Ketchikan.

Lisa Stroh is superintendent in Valdez. There are also principals and administrators from Shageluk, Port Heiden, Unalakleet, Grayling and Soldotna. Other applicants are from around the U.S. and even Puerto Rico.

A team of current and former school board members, teachers and administrators will be trying to narrow down the list this Friday and hope to arrive on three applicants to bring to town for in-person interviews. Thomason is happy with the search process. “I think about the team who is reviewing this that everybody is just taking it very seriously. I just couldn’t be happier with the amount of effort and concern that’s going into the search. It’s going to be comprehensive.”

The district hopes to have onsite interviews with finalists at the end of this month or early April. Those would include a chance for parents and members of the public to meet the applicants and provide input.

Here’s the full list: David Albert of Plattewoods Missouri, William Bradshaw of Soldotna, Scott Butterfield of Angoon, Ralph Crosslin of Bellaite Michigan, Bernard Grieve of Shageluk, Michael Gullett of Grayling, Virginia Jewell of Monroe Georgia, Tariq Malik of Sugarland Texas, Sherry McKenzie of Port Heiden, Nancy Moon of Ketchikan, Angela Ritchie of Cedar Bluff Alabama, Paul Rockhold of Clarksville Tennessee, James Sines of Zanesville Ohio, Lisa Stroh of Valdez, Lowell Taylor of Lanark Illinois, Monte Thacker of Kerens Texas, Jay Thomas of Unalakleet and Ismael Villafane of Mercedita Puerto Rico.

(Editor’s note: this story has been corrected to show the request for list of applicants was an informal request by the Petersburg Pilot)