The Douglas County School Board has narrowed an applicant pool of more than 100 superintendent hopefuls down to four finalists, board President David Ray announced during the April 6 board meeting.

The finalists are Samuel Jarman, who is superintendent of Alpine School District in Utah; Christopher Page, the principal at Highlands Ranch High School; Corey Wise, the district’s interim superintendent; and Mary Young, superintendent at Warren County Schools in North Carolina.

The four will now go through a public engagement process while vying to helm Colorado’s third largest school district comprising 63,000 students.

Jarman  has been superintendent of Alpine School District for six years with plans to retire from the district in 2021. Alpine School District is Utah's largest district, comprising more than 81,000 students and 9,000 employees. He has worked in public education for 35 years.

Page began his career in the Douglas County School District, starting as a history teacher at Rocky Heights Middle School. He taught at Rock Canyon High School before becoming assistant principal there and was named principal of Highlands Ranch High School in 2015. He has served 18 years with the district.

Wise was named the district’s interim superintendent in September. He has been with the district for 25 years. Wise worked as a social studies teacher at Ponderosa High School and taught at Chaparral High School before becoming assistant principal. He was the founding principal at Legend High School, where he stayed for seven years until taking roles in the district’s central administration.

Young has worked in public education for more than 20 years. She previously served as an executive director for Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland, which serves more than 130,000 students. She also worked in the South Carolina Department of Education and served as principal to several schools in Washington D.C.

The district hired the firm Frederick Andrews to conduct its search after former Superintendent Thomas Tucker resigned in September.  

Ray said during the board’s April 6 board meeting the candidates will spend the following week taking site tours of the district and undergoing panel interviews with staff, parents, students and community members.

A public forum with each candidate will be livestreamed on April 13 through the district’s YouTube channel. The board plans to name a sole finalist on April 20.

This story has been updated to show Samuel Jarman is the current superintendent of Alpine School District. A press release previously indicated he had retired from the position.