The three finalists in the search for Hawaii’s next permanent public schools superintendent were revealed today, and as expected, they include interim Superintendent Keith Hayashi.

Also on the short list:

>> Darrel Galera, a veteran Hawaii public schools educator and former state Board of Education member, and

>>Caprice Young, president of Education Growth Group in Los Angeles.

“The search committee was in agreement that these finalists all met the broad competencies we are looking for,” state Board of Education Chairperson Catherine Payne, who has chaired the superintendent search committee, said in a statement to the Star-Advertiser. “Each has individual areas of greater strength, which were also noted in the comments of our advisory group. This will be a challenging decision for the full board. We had hoped for several strong candidates, and they came forward.”

The next steps:

>> May 5: At the board’s general business meeting, the search committee will formally present the names of the finalists and adopt a detailed process for interviewing them.

>> May 19: A special meeting will be dedicated to interviewing the finalists, and the board will also deliberate their merits, all in a public format. The board may vote at that meeting to recommend one person, Payne has said.

>> June 16: The BOE is expected to give final approval to the next permanent superintendent.

Public testimony on the candidates is invited. To sign up to present oral testimony and/or find the procedures for submitting written testimony, visit the board website.