Scarborough and Cape Elizabeth are each seeking a new superintendent of schools, and one candidate is a finalist in both of the neighboring communities.

Craig King, superintendent of Western Foothills Regional School Unit 10, which serves Rumford and 11 other communities, is one of three finalists in Scarborough and one of two finalists in Cape Elizabeth.

The Scarborough School Board has already made its final choice, reaching a consensus during an executive session Wednesday after its finalists visited the town’s schools this week, Chairwoman Donna Beeley said Thursday. The board has refused to publicly identify its top choice and is scheduled to announce and formally appoint the winning candidate at 2:30 p.m. Friday.

The two finalists for the Cape Elizabeth position are scheduled to visit that town’s schools the week of April 25, although that plan may become moot if Scarborough picks King and leaves Cape Elizabeth with one remaining candidate.

“It’s possible,” said Elizabeth Scifres, chairwoman of the Cape Elizabeth School Board. “We knew it could happen.”

Scifres acknowledged that Maine school districts often face a challenge in attracting qualified candidates for superintendent positions because the pool of candidates for school leadership is small in a mostly rural state. She said Cape Elizabeth’s opening drew applicants from across the country, but mostly concentrated in New England. Scifres refused to say how many applications Cape Elizabeth received.

Scarborough received 16 applications, Deeley said, for a position that Superintendent George Entwistle has held since July 2011 and will retire from in June.

Cape Elizabeth is replacing Meredith Nadeau, who has been superintendent for five years and is leaving to become superintendent of the elementary and junior-senior high schools in Newmarket, New Hampshire.

King, the man under consideration in both towns, previously served as principal of Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham and worked as a principal and an assistant principal in Mississippi, where he taught at a high school. He also taught at the elementary level at an international school. He has a master’s degree in education and a doctorate in educational leadership, both from the University of Southern Mississippi.

The two other candidates in Scarborough are Brooke Clenchy, senior associate education commissioner of Massachusetts, who has a master’s degree in educational leadership, curriculum and instruction from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington; and Julie Kukenberger, assistant school superintendent in Haverhill, Massachusetts, who has a master’s degree in educational leadership from Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey.

The other candidate in Cape Elizabeth is Steven Bailey, superintendent of the Central Lincoln County School System, Alternative Organizational Structure 93, which is based in Damariscotta.

Bailey previously served as assistant superintendent and curriculum director in South Portland. His history includes principal positions in Exeter, New Hampshire, South Portland and Veazie, where he began his teaching career. He has a master’s degree in education and a certificate of advanced studies, both from the University of Maine.

Kelley Bouchard can be contacted at 791-6328 or at:

kbouchard@pressherald.com

Twitter: KelleyBouchard

Copy the Story Link