The search for the next principal of North Tapps Middle School is almost over, and according to Dieringer Superintendent Judy Neimeier-Martinson, no matter which of the finalists is chosen, the school will be in good hands.

“I think they’re excellent,” Neumeier-Martinson said of the three finalists for the position. “Dieringer will be well-served.”

The Dieringer Board of Education is expected to make a final decision during their meeting Monday.

The search began earlier this year with the announcement that North Tapps Principal Pat Keaton would be retiring at the end of this school year.

Keaton has spent 28 of his 30 years in education with the Dieringer school district.

“We loaned him to White River for a couple of years and then he came back here,” Nuemeier-Martinson joked.

For the last two decades, Keaton has been a principal in the district and has been the only principal at North Tapps Middle School since it opened in 1992.

Neumeier-Martinson said the district officially opened the position in January, posting the job to several websites and sending mailings to every district in the state.

The initial posting drew 25 applicants from “literally all over the world,” according to Martinson, who whittled the candidates down to 11.

The Board of Education then appointed a committee of teachers, staff and community members to further screen the applicants, looking closer at their training, background, experience, leadership skills and recommendations.

Of those 11 candidates, five were invited to be interviewed by the committee in mid-February. After the interviews, the applicants were narrowed to three finalists, each of whom received a site visit from the district so officials from Dieringer could talk to the community and staff at their current schools.

“You can do reference checks but it doesn’t give you the same level of understanding,” Neumeier-Martinson said.

The three finalists for the position are (in alphabetical order):

• Lisa Kelly, current dean of students at North Tapps Middle School;

• Frank Ramirez, current assistant principal at Auburn-Riverside High School; and

• Nate Salisbury, current assistant principal at Kalama Middle/High School in Kalama, Wash., near Vancouver.

On March 25 the finalists gathered for an after-school forum with district staff, giving a brief presentation and then answering questions. On March 28, the program was repeated for about 70 parents at a community forum.

Neumeier-Martinson said the response to all three candidates has been very positive, adding that one teacher even asked her “couldn’t you have one dud?”

Though she said she was sorry to see Keaton leave, Neumeier-Martinson said the district will be well-served by any one of the candidates. She also thanked the staff and especially the committee for the work they conducted through the selection process.

“We tried to make it as open and transparent and inclusive as we possibly could,” she said.

The Dieringer Board of Directors is expected to make its final decision on a the next North Tapps Middle School Principal during its next meeting, 7 p.m. Monday at the district office, 1320 178th Avenue E., Lake Tapps.