From Kyle Hopkins in Anchorage

UPDATE: The finalists for Anchorage School District superintendent are: Kenai schools head Steve Atwater and Jim Browder, the former superintendent of schools for the Lee County school district in Fort Myers, Fla.

ATWATER

Read Atwater's resume and application.

...

BROWDER

Read Browder's resume and application.

Recent news articles about Browder's education career in Florida describe a tumultuous run as an administrator at Edison State College, during which college faculty called for his ouster, according to the Naples News and the News-Press (Fort Myers). Browder was a finalist over the summer for a superintendent job in Jackson, Tenn., and a finalist this fall for a superintendent post in Broward County, Florida.

Both candidates will visit Anchorage in January, meeting with district employees, local leaders and the community at a pair of public meetings. The school board hopes to make a selection by late January or early February.

The school board selected Browder and Atwater from a pool of roughly 150 applicants.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, which would lose its top administrator if Atwater wins the job, issued this statement from board president Joe Arness today:

"Operations of the school district will continue without interruption until such time as a final decision is made in Anchorage, and then the KPBSD School Board will respond to whatever that decision may be. At this point, Dr. Atwater remains under contract to the Kenai Peninsula and will remain welcome to continue that relationship should he not be offered and accept the Anchorage Superintendent position.”

No matter who is hired, the new superintendent will likely be paid more than Comeau, who was making $165,000 a year plus benefits, as of July.

According to their resumes, Atwater is making $140,000 at the Kenai district and Browder was most recently making $260,000 as senior vice president of operations at Edison State College. (He was making $170,000 a year as a schools superintendent.)

More info shortly.

ORIGINAL POST

The Anchorage School District this morning plans to announce two finalists in the search for a replacement for retiring superintendent Carol Comeau.

I hope to update this post from the school district HQ. Get ready to Google those names.

The superintendent post is among the biggest jobs in Alaska government, overseeing a district of 49,000 students and a more than $800 million budget.

The school board is expected to make the announcement at about 10 a.m.