Interim Education Commissioner Elaine Farris is a finalist for a job as school superintendent in Clark County.
The Winchester Sun reports that Farris and four others are being considered for the position in the central Kentucky district of 6,000 students.
Clark County Superintendent Ed Musgrove announced his resignation in December 2008, effective June 30.
If Farris were to leave her post as interim commissioner before a commissioner is hired, the Kentucky Board of Education would name another interim, said Lisa Gross, director of communications for the Kentucky Department of Education.
Farris, deputy education commissioner for the Bureau of Learning and Results Services, was named interim education commissioner in January. Her duties overseeing the state's public education system began Feb. 1.
The board hasn't set a firm timeline for hiring a new commissioner, but could at its meeting next week, Gross said.
Members will meet with representatives of the search firm chosen to find a replacement for former Commissioner Jon Draud, who announced his resignation in December after suffering a stroke.
Gross said Farris, a native of Clark County, notified the Board of Education early on that she would apply for the position if it came open.
"We are not concerned," Gross said. "We support her in whatever endeavor she wants to take."
Farris started her career in 1982 as a physical education teacher at a Clark County elementary school, later serving as the school's principal and as an assistant principal at George Rogers Clark High School.
She became Kentucky's first minority superintendent when she was hired to lead Shelby County Public Schools in 2004.
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