OROVILLE – Two more candidates for Oroville School District Superintendent were interviewed last week, bringing the total to six.

School Director Todd Hill said at a special meeting last Monday evening the board agreed to pursue contract negotiations with one of the candidates, but added he wasn’t at liberty to say which candidate the board had in mind.

“Hopefully we will be able to get the name out at the next regular board meeting next Monday,” said Director Hill. “It has been a long, long process and we need to make the final decision in open session.”

The two most recent candidates, Richard D. Stewart and Jeff Hardesty met with the board, school staff and the public on two separate days last week. Stewart, who is currently the Superintendent at Nespelem, has a history of being hired to “fix” school districts that are undergoing problems and then moving on to the next job. Previous to his job at Nespelem he was the Superintendent at Chimacum School District for two years and prior to that he was at Eatonville School District for three years.

Hardesty, the Tonasket High School Principal, has his superintendent’s certificate and indicated he would be willing to stay on as superintendent for a longer period if that’s the way the board decides to go.