The search for the next superintendent for the Selma City School System continues.

Johnny Moss, president of the school board, said the system has already received several applications and are expecting more by the Aug. 10 deadline to apply.

“As of now, we’ve had about six applications that have been submitted, and that was as of last week,” Moss said Thursday. “We anticipate getting quite a few more, and shortly after the 10th we’ll convene and start going through the reference checks and our attorney will vet the candidates, and then we’ll move forward.”

Former superintendent Dr. Angela Mangum resigned in May after an alleged breach of her contract for applying for the Pike Road Schools superintendent position without notifying the board.

The job listing was announced on July 7 after the school system took feedback from an online community survey to develop a job description.

Moss said the school system had great participation from people in the community.

“I think we collected almost 300 surveys. We want to thank the community and all of the parents and citizens who participated in the survey,” Moss said. “It was very enlightening, and we tried to make sure we included all of those responses in the job posting.”

Moss said the position is listed nationally. According to the job listing, the superintendent will be over eight elementary schools, two middle schools, one high school, an early college program and an alternative program.

The school system serves approximately 3,362 students and employs around 535 employees.

So far, Moss said the process of searching for a superintendent has gone well. Once the job listing is closed, the candidates will be narrowed down, and finalists will be selected. Moss said the finalists will be interviewed publicly to give people a chance to hear from the system’s next leader.

“The interviews will be public, and we also want to record them so we can review them and so people can see them who don’t have a chance to come to the actual interview,” Moss said. “We want the community to come and embrace the process. This is new to us, but that’s why we asked for community input.”

Moss said the board hopes to have a superintendent hired by Oct. 1 and on the job by Oct. 16.

“That’s the day we’re shooting for if we don’t have any hiccups, but we should have a superintendent in place by October,” he said. “We just want this leader to come in and bring some experience to the table.”

Moss said the board feels like the system is moving in a positive direction.

“We feel good about the direction we’re moving in, and we’re excited for this next school year,” he said.

According to a timeline the board has laid out, interviews will be conducted from Aug. 28 to Sept. 1.