BRADENTON -- The six finalists in the running to be Manatee County's next schools superintendent will participate in a series of interviews Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 11-12.

The candidates will participate in a series of interview sessions Monday at the School Support Center in downtown Bradenton. They will take questions from the Manatee County School Board, the Manatee Education Association, the AFSCME union, the Citizens Advisory Group and school district staff.

The six candidates are:

n John Carvelli, an elementary school principal in Palm Beach County;

n Rick Mills, the Minneapolis Public School District chief executive officer;

n Kathryn LeRoy, the Duval County Public Schools director;

n Dr. Diana Greene, the former superintendent for the Marion County School District;

n Dr. Constance Jones, the chief academic officer at the School District of Lee County; and

n Pamela Stewart, the K-12 chancellor of public schools for the Florida Department of

Education.

Pat Barber, president of the Manatee Education Association, says she expects to ask questions to how each candidate will deal with labor relations, building trust within and without the community, support for employees, and employee morale.

"We are very excited to have this opportunity," Barber said. "It will be interesting to see how it will unfold."

On Tuesday, the six candidates will participate in one-on-one interviews with each of the five members of the school board.

The interviews on Monday will go from 8 a.m. to 6:40 p.m.

The interviews on Tuesday will go from 8 a.m. to 2:55 p.m.

Students from each of Manatee County's high schools will attend the first three interview sessions Monday.

The interviews will be recorded and open to the public.