We don’t know who they are, but we do know eight candidates are moving to the “next stage of the process” in the search for a new Seattle Public Schools superintendent. We first reported last Tuesday night that School Board president Gina Topp, speaking to the Admiral Neighborhood Association, had revealed they had “41 qualified applicants” and would get a closer look at them on Friday. That afternoon/evening meeting to review applications was an executive (non-public) session, and resulted in the weekend announcement that they’d winnowed the field to eight. According to that announcement, “The applicant pool is diverse and includes leaders from across the country.” Here’s the timeline they’re working with:

Thursday, October 9, Finalist Interviews
Friday, October 10, Finalist Interviews
Wednesday, October 15, Board Discussion (tentative)
Wednesday, October 15 or 22, Selection of Candidate (tentative)

The district developed a “leadership profile” to guide the search; you can see it here.