WINTON – There are 16 applicants for the vacant Superintendent of Schools position in Hertford County Public Schools.

The application deadline has passed for those seeking the job and Hertford County Board of Education Chairman David Shields said the district was forwarded those 16 applications by the North Carolina School Board Association, which is assisting with the search.

“They all meet the parameters we set forth,” he said. “We used the surveys that were turned in by the staff and the public to help set those parameters and the School Board Association only forwarded us applications that met those standards.”

The post was vacated in January by Dr. John Fahey, who took a job as school district Superintendent in Virginia. Julius Walker, a retired Superintendent from Washington County, has been filling in as interim since that time.

Shields said the board will meet March 22 to go through the applications and begin the process of deciding which of those candidates will be brought in for interviews.

“Last time we interviewed five, but that number is subject to change,” he said. “We will go through and see which candidates the board members want to talk to. We may also do a second round of interviews.”

While the district is without a permanent superintendent, Shields said the board still strongly believes it is moving in the right direction.

“We are anticipating the best test scores we have ever had,” he said. “We believe things are going well.”