The West Salem School Board now has three superintendent finalists after starting with 17 applicants: Troy Gunderson, Fran Finco and Heidi Schmidt.

Gunderson was West Salem High School principal from 1993 until 2008, when he left to become the district administrator for the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau School District. He received his bachelor’s degree in 1985 from the University of Minnesota and his master’s degree and administrative certification from Winona State University in 1992.

He also was a high school principal from 1992-93 in Princeton, Wis. Prior to that he taught math and computer science and was the athletic director at Melrose-Mindoro High School from 1985 to 1992.

Finco has been director of instructional services in the Onalaska School District since 2001. Before that he was principal at the Onalaska Middle School from 1992 to 2001.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from Northern Michigan University in 1975, his master’s degree from the University of North Dakota-Grand Forks in 1984 and a specialist degree in educational administration in 1992 from Moorhead State University.

Schmidt has been the school district administrator for nine years in Fall River, Wis. Before that she was a middle school principal from 1990-2001 in Brodhead, Wis. She earned her doctoral degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in 2005. She earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from UW-Platteville, and her master’s degree in educational administration from UW-Madison.

A public forum will be held Feb. 15 at West Salem Elementary in the assembly room to meet the candidates in three time slots. The order of the candidates is not yet known, but the public can meet with one at 5 p.m., one at 5:45 p.m. and the third at 6:30 p.m.

The board is asking the public for anonymous input about each candidate on written evaluation forms .

“We’re looking for the public’s input on each candidate’s strengths and weaknesses,” said school board President Errol Kindschy.

The candidates will rotate between four groups of people that night. One group is made up of school teachers, staff and office employees. Another group is made up of community members selected from those who participated in the earlier public forums and the third group is the board.

The school board will meet Tuesday, Feb. 16, to make its final decision on the superintendent hiring.