Three candidates are vying to be the next superintendent of Allen Parish schools.

The Allen Parish School Board launched a search in March to find a new superintendent for the school district after current Superintendent Kent Reed announced that he would retire in June after 37 years with the school district, the last four as superintendent.

The application deadline has ended and three candidates are gearing up for interviews, Reed said.

Those who applied for the position are:

– Kenney Courville, child welfare, attendance and transportation supervisor for the Allen Parish School Board.

– Brad Soileau, secondary supervisor of instruction and assessment for the Allen Parish School Board.

– Dwain Ducote, transportation and maintenance director for the Vernon Parish School Board.

The candidates are scheduled to meet with School Board members on May 1 to explain why they should be the district’s next top administrator of schools. A second interview will be held May 2, if necessary, according to Reed.

Officials hope to have a new superintendent-elect named as soon as the board’s May 8 meeting. That person would begin leading the school district July 1 after training with Reed before he steps down.

Reed said he was pleased with the experience of the candidates and felt the board would choose the best fit for the position.

“I think the board will get the best person to continue to move the school district forward,” Reed said. “I want the best for the Allen Parish school system and I know our board will do everything possible to get the right person.”

Courville, of Kinder, is a former teacher, assistant principal and baseball coach at Kinder High School. He recently inducted into the Louisiana Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Soileau, of Oakdale, has spent more than 20 years in education, serving as assistant principal and principal of Oakdale High School and a music teacher at Oakdale Elementary School. He briefly served as an education coordinator and principal at the Raymond Laborde Correctional Facility in Cottonport before returning to the Allen Parish school system.

Ducote, of Leesville, has served as the transportation and maintenance director for the Vernon Parish School Board for nearly two years and served as the district’s curriculum supervisor for over seven years. He is a former principal at Pickering Elementary School and former assistant principal at Hornbeck High School, Pickering High School, Rosepine High School and Vernon Middle School.

He was also a math teacher at Rosepine High School and served one term as an alderman in the town of Rosepine.

The Allen Parish school system has 11 schools with a current enrollment of 4,200 students and 645 employees, including 340 teachers.