Swisher is a final candidate in Bend

Steve Swisher is likely the top choice out of the final three applicants for the job of superintendent of the Bend School District.

Swisher and his wife, Novella, were to go to Bend on Wednesday for an orientation, according to Swisher, and he was to lead a community forum that evening.

The other two candidates will go through the same process next week.

It is common for the top candidate to be interviewed first, according to the Oregon School Boards Association. This allows a school board maximum flexibility while contracts are discussed.

However, Swisher is the only applicant from Oregon, which might have influenced the order of final interview. The other two finalists for the job include Doug Nelson, superintendent of schools in Pullman, Washington, and Thomas McCraley, a former superintendent and director of Associated Business Systems of Arizona, according to a story published on Monday in The Bulletin in Bend.

Sisters School Board member Bill Reed said that the Sisters District would just have to wait and see at this point.

"The (Sisters) board has talked briefly. If Bend offers Steve the job and he accepts, we would probably hire an interim superintendent, and work with the Oregon School Boards Association, who helped us during the superintendent search four years ago," Reed said.

"I don"t think the board would want to be hasty. We would move cautiously and hire the best superintendent we can, if it comes to that," Reed added.

Swisher said the meetings on Wednesday would give him the opportunity to look at the Bend district "to see if my skills and abilities are a good fit."

Even if offered the Bend job, "I still have very difficult final decision to make as to whether I would want to go there, ultimately," Swisher said.

The Bend district has faced a high turnover in leadership and a number of contentious issues.

The Bend board is scheduled to make a decision before the end of the month.