JAY – Twelve candidates have submitted applications for the elementary school principal position.

Principal Beverly Gillespie announced last year that she would be resigning from the position to pursue new challenges after this school year.

Superintendent Robert Wall said the applications will be screened to make sure candidates are qualified for the job and that all of their paperwork has been submitted.

The principal selection process calls for Wall, the chairman of the School Committee, and a selected administrative team representative to screen the credentials and application materials of external and internal candidates.

Then the superintendent will provide three candidates to a committee made up of staff, community members and two administrators to review the applications and conduct interviews.

That committee is in the process of being finalized, Wall said, and will meet soon.

Initially, 10 people were expected to be on the committee including students.

“We had hoped to have students on the committee,” Wall said, but the two high school students who will serve as student members of the School Committee have not been appointed yet.

The School Committee has recently approved a policy to have student representatives on the board.

The search committee will interview the three or more candidates and each committee member will articulate the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate.

This information will be submitted to Wall, who may conduct second interviews in conjunction with the full School Committee and conduct site visits.

Wall will recommend the final candidate to the School Committee. Resumes of all candidates and the notes submitted by the Principal Selection Committee will be available for review by the School Committee.

Wall said he hopes to have a candidate for the board to consider at its April meeting.