Committees have begun interviewing candidates for the four principal positions district officials announced were available last week.

Superintendent Ray Gonzalez said he hopes to recommend individuals to fill the positions at the next Board of Education May 17.

Gonzalez announced last week that the leaders would not be back next school year due to resignations, promotions, and personnel contracts not being renewed.

New principals at George Washington and Schuyler-Colfax middle schools, Lafayette Elementary School, and Wayne Hills High School will be hired. Wayne Hills Principal Scot Beckerman is resigning. Gonzalez has not offered specific reasons for the other changes.

Gonzalez said that a multi-level interview process is being conducted to fill each position.

Committees have been formed to interview each candidate. A parent, teacher, school-level administrator, and district level administrator serves on each committee. A separate committee composed of multiple district-level administrators interviews candidates who move onto the second round. A final recommendation is then made to Gonzalez.

“In general, we are looking at principal candidates who bring experiences and expertise that enable them to lead and inspire the entire school community and collaborate with administrative colleagues to see the vision of the district come to a reality,” Gonzalez said.

Officials are also reorganizing the administrative structure of the district’s, athletic, special education and guidance departments.

Although it is expected that there will be one athletic director for both schools, Gonzalez said that the athletic department’s administrative structure is still being finalized.

Gonzalez said that officials have not begun searching for individuals to fill positions that “have yet to be determined.”

“We are looking to create a structure that promotes uniformity in all of our practices in order to build upon our prominent athletics programs at each school,” Gonzalez said. “These include standardizing everything from job descriptions, handbooks, purchasing, evaluations, and hiring.”

The Board of Education announced last week and it would not renew the contracts of Wayne Hills and Wayne Valley athletic directors Chris Olsen and Dan Kilday.

The decision comes as a result of a new district policy the board approved last year that prohibits administrators and supervisors from coaching sports teams or acting as advisors of any district athletic, co-curricular, or extra-curricular program.

The board established the policy after nine Hills football players were charged with aggravated assault last year. Some in the community criticized Olsen for not suspending the players for the team’s first two state playoff games.

Olsen is one of the most successful football coaches in state history with eight state championships. Kilday coaches boys’ soccer. They earn more than $120,000 a year.

Kurt Praschak, vice president of public relations for the Success Communications Group, the pubic relations firm the district hired earlier this year, did not respond to requests for comments from Olsen submitted Friday.