Vandalia-Butler Schools hope to have three finalists for superintendent identified by Wednesday, March 13.

The list of candidates started at 24 and already has been whittled to eight. Those candidates will be interviewed beginning this weekend.

“It was an impressive list, but we can’t release any names yet,” according to school board president Bud Zupp, who said there are three applicants from inside the system, all of whom will be interviewed.

The Ohio School Boards Association is helping Vandalia with its search to replace Christy Donnelly, who is retiring following her 13th year as Vandalia superintendent and 36 years in public education — most of them in Vandalia.

The application deadline was Feb. 25 and the school board’s first look at the application list was Thursday, March 7. Some applicants have superintendent experience but others do not.

A second round of interviews will be held beginning April 8 and a third round shortly after that. The school board will invite a few members of the community to sit in on some of the interviews and ask questions, Zupp said. He wants to get as many people in the community involved as possible.

A meet-the-community night also will be planned for April.

The new superintendent is expected to be selected by the end of May.