The Kansas State Department of Education announced Wednesday that the candidates include Georgia Schools Superintendent John Barge, who unsuccessfully challenged Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal in the spring primary. Also on the list is associate Shawnee Mission school district superintendent Gillian Chapman, interim Kansas education commissioner Bradley Neuenswander and McPherson school district superintendent Randall Watson.

The candidates will be interviewed Nov. 5 and 6. The education department says the board expects to make an announcement at its board meeting the following week.

The state is seeking a replacement for Diane DeBacker, who left her position in May to become an adviser to the director general of the Abu Dhabi Education Council in the United Arab Emirates.