A superintendent for Phoenix-area schools and an educational consultant who has helped run mainland school districts have emerged as the top candidates to lead Hawaii’s public school system.

The Board of Education announced Linda Chen and Christina Kishimoto as finalists for the position at a meeting Wednesday morning, where neither candidate was in attendance. The job opening was posted last month, citing a salary “in the range of $240,000,” to oversee Hawaii’s statewide school system of 256 schools, 180,000 students and 22,000 permanent employees.

Kishimoto is the superintendent and chief executive officer of Gilbert Public Schools, an Arizona school district made up of 40 schools with 38,000 students.

She had a rocky tenure at her previous job in Connecticut, where she was essentially let go as superintendent of Hartford Public Schools, a district of approximately 22,000 students. Kishimoto had been promoted to the top job after serving as Hartford’s assistant superintendent of school design.

But after the Hartford schools board gave her low marks on her job performance (which she disputed), it later unanimously rejected Kishimoto’s request for a contract extension, citing concerns about a lack of communication and the pace of school improvements being too slow, according to reports by the Hartford Courant newspaper.

Kishimoto holds a doctorate in education administration from Columbia University’s Teachers College as well as a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of Connecticut. She started her career in higher education, including four years as assistant dean of student services at Wesleyan University.

In a cover letter to the BOE’s search committee, she described herself as a passionate leader.

“I believe deeply in the power of public education when delivered with a laser focus on equitable access and quality,” Kishimoto wrote. “I believe that a district the size of Hawaii’s school system has the unique opportunity to take on an empowerment approach to school design, providing student-centered school options. … I will focus on our students as scholars and innovators.”

Chen, meanwhile, is the founder and managing director of Baltimore-based Ikigai Educational Consulting, which is described on her resume as providing instructional leadership development and strategic curricular reform.

Chen resigned last year from her position as chief academic officer for Baltimore City Public Schools, a district made up of 188 schools with 84,000 students. She had been brought in to lead Baltimore’s academic office by the district’s controversial former CEO, Gregory Thornton, who ultimately stepped down after less than two years into a four-year contract over criticism that he lacked vision and direction. Chen was one of at least three high-ranking appointees to leave after Thornton resigned.

She previously worked for Boston Public Schools as deputy chief academic officer and chief curriculum and instruction officer. Chen also was assistant superintendent and deputy chief of teaching and learning for the School District of Philadelphia.

She holds a doctorate in education and master’s degrees in educational leadership and curriculum and teaching, all from Columbia University’s Teachers College. She previously worked as a teacher in Seattle and New York City public schools.

In her cover letter, Chen said she has longtime friends and family who are from Hawaii or live in the islands.

“I am captivated by the sense of aloha that has time and again warmly embraced me as a visitor and I am eager to have the opportunity to meaningfully reciprocate,” she wrote. “My educational career is marked by relentlessly pursuing equity with excellence for all students by working with communities to strategically build upon strengths.”

BOE Chairman Lance Mizumoto, who along with board members Patricia Bergin and Kenneth Uemura served on the search committee, said he’s confident in the recommendations.

“The search committee looked at their backgrounds. The final candidates did go through a background check including civil, criminal, financial and education verification,” he said. “References were contacted and searches were done on social media and other sites. Any issues discovered were further followed on to verify whether there was any truth to any claims or allegations made.”

The board is working to schedule meetings for the public to meet the finalists before a May 11 board meeting where the BOE will interview the finalists to make a decision.

Chen and Kishimoto were selected from an initial candidate pool of 92 applicants — 75 from the mainland and 17 from Hawaii. The list was narrowed to eight semifinalists with the help of executive search firm Ray & Associates. The search committee interviewed the eight candidates and provided video recordings of the interviews to its advisory group of stakeholders.

“We were lucky to have had a number of candidates to choose from,” Mizumoto said. “While we would have loved to have a local candidate, it was pretty apparent to both the search committee, the advisory group as well as the student organizations that these two individuals stood out.”

Brian De Lima, the board’s vice chairman, added, “The credentials of the two final candidates are excellent. I believe our final selection will be someone who will provide the visionary leadership that the board seeks in a superintendent.”

Members of the committee’s advisory panel — representing stakeholder groups including special education, teachers, parents, Hawaiian educators and charter schools — also said they were impressed with the finalists.

“The eight finalists were all extremely qualified,” said Cheri Nakamura, director of the Hui for Excellence in Education, who served on the advisory group. “These two did rise to the top.”

Susan Rocco of the Special Education Advisory Council of Hawaii, who also served on the advisory group, called the two finalists “top notch.”

“They understood Hawaii. They’d done their research. They had a connection to Hawaii. But more than that they were great communicators. They were able to see a bigger vision,” she said of the candidates’ video interviews. “I could just see them fitting in here really well.”

Corey Rosenlee, president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, said he was surprised that neither candidate is from Hawaii.

“But we want to keep an open mind and have a chance to hear from both of them what their ideas are to improve education in Hawaii,” he said.

The selected candidate will replace schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi, whose term ends June 30.

Resume of Linda Chen by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Scribd

Resume of Christina Kishimoto by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Scribd