Interviews for the position of Chief Financial Officer of Demopolis City Schools will begin Friday at 1 p.m.

The job has been vacant since last month when Linda Agee gave up the post for a similar opportunity with the Saraland City School District.

Dr. Neil Hyche, who has helped the board of education with its search said the field was cut to four finalists: two current sitting CFOs, one former government official and one Certified Public Accountant in the private sector.

Hyche declined to release their names.

“I’ve interviewed each of these candidates personally,” he said, “and each have gone through a background check.”

Hyche was also aided in the screening process by CPAs Rick Harbin of Tuscaloosa and Rob Pearson of Demopolis.

“I’ve had a lot of good help through this process,” Hyche said.

The four applicants will now face a formal interview before the Board of Education this Friday from 1 to 5 p.m. Each candidate will be given one hour.

At the conclusion of the interviews, Hyche said it will be up to the board to choose to extend a job offer or not. However, even if an offer is accepted and made, Hyche noted, the candidate could not be formally hired until he or she was approved by the state.

“The board’s selection has to go before the State Department of Education for approval,” he said. “They’ll have to look over their back ground and qualifications to make sure they meet all the state criteria.”

Hyche added that state mandated criteria was taken into account during the initial screening process, and that he didn’t anticipate that becoming a hurdle in the hiring process.

Interviews are open to the public and will be held in the meeting room at the Central Office.