Interim Superintendent Thomas Charko, Christine DeBarge, Todd Gazda and Earl Metzler are the finalists.
PALMER - The four finalists for the school superintendent position were announced at Wednesday's School Committee meeting, and one of them is interim superintendent and business manager Thomas A. Charko.
Charko, of Agawam, has been the business manager for the Palmer Public Schools since 1999 and was appointed interim superintendent this past June, taking over for superintendent Gerald A. Fournier, who retired.
The other candidates are:
• Christine DeBarge, of Belchertown, a state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education level 4 plan manager for the Gill-Montague Regional School District since July. DeBarge also was the director of student support services for Ludlow public schools from 2003 to 2011.
• Todd H. Gazda, of West Hartford, Conn., principal of Gateway Regional Middle School in Huntington since 2007; prior to that he was the assistant principal from 2005 to 2007.
• Earl Metzler, of Quincy, principal of Quincy High School since 2007. From 1997 to 2007, he was a middle school principal in Quincy.
A total of 26 people applied to be the superintendent, and the Superintendent Search Committee whittled down that number to 10 to interview. Five nights of interviews were held, according to Bonny B. Rathbone, who co-chaired the 13-member Superintendent Search Committee with Ronald Masnicki.
She described the four finalists as "outstanding professionals" who demonstrate the qualities to lead the district forward.
Masnicki said the School Committee has a great opportunity to pick the next superintendent.
"The choice you all will make will have a lasting impact on the children of Palmer for many generations to come," Masnicki said.
Patricia Correira, search consultant for the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, which was hired to assist with the search, said each finalist will visit Palmer, and site visits to the districts where they work also will be conducted.
The visits to the finalists' workplaces caused some discussion, as some Search Committee members who are school employees want to attend them.
Search Committee member Catherine Reed, a school librarian, said they have a right to take personal days, but School Committee Vice-Chairman James L. St. Amand said it would be too expensive to replace them with substitutes.
School Committee Chairwoman Maureen R. Gallagher said she is not paid for days off, unlike the school employees.
Laurie McDonald, a Search Committee member, said the School Committee was acting like it did not care about the efforts the Search Committee put into the process. School Committee members said that wasn't the case.
Correira told the search committee to contact her if they are interested in attending any of the site visits, and commended the members for doing a great job. She wanted four individuals at each site visit.
On Oct. 24, Gallagher and St. Amand will visit with Charko in Palmer.
On Oct. 25, School Committee members Robert R. Janasiewicz and David M. Lynch will visit DeBarge, possibly in Ludlow, where she previously worked.
On Oct. 26, Janasiewicz will travel to Huntington for Gazda, and on Oct. 28, School Committee member Gary Blanchette will go to Quincy to observe Metzler.
The finalists will visit Palmer in November.
Besides Rathbone, Masnicki, Reed and McDonald, search committee members included Beth Zelazo, Claudia Messier, John Dyl, Thomas Barnes, Amy Herring, Stephen Muniec, Charles Abbate, Lisa Murray and Diane Warnock-Graper.
Zelazo, who said she is excited about the finalists, as is the entire Search Committee, hopes the community takes advantage of the "meet and greets" with the finalists that will be held next month.