Jordan School District's 73,000 students may have scared away applicants for the position of superintendent.

The district, one of seven Utah districts to start the search for a new superintendent this year, received 22 applications by Friday, the last day to apply for the position. In comparison, Ogden City District received more than 30 applications for its superintendent position by its February filing deadline."Most of us expected there'd be a little more interest," said Patty Dahl, the district's spokeswoman.

Jane Callister, member of the district board, gave two reasons for the low number of applicants to replace Superintendent Raymond Whittenburg.

First, Jordan District is competing with six other Utah districts trying to hire a new superintendent this year. Perhaps the drain on the local pool of talent is the reason more than half of the applicants come from out of state, said Callister.

Next, Jordan District is the second largest district in the state. And according to Callister, "big districts frighten people."

Many people inquiring about the position were scared off after hearing about the district's size, she said. Jordan District's student population is almost 20 times larger than that of the average U. S. school district.

Ellen Wallace, president of Jordan District's school board, believes the low numbers may also have to do with the district's requirement that all applicants have doctorates.

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Only three applicants came from within the district itself. "We expected a few more applicants from within the district than we received," Dahl said.

In addition, only two of the 22 applicants are women. "We do have several women in the district who have doctorate degrees," Dahl said, "I did expect it to be a higher ratio, but I didn't expect it to be 50/50."

Members of the Board of Education plan to evaluate the applications and hold private interviews with the finalists.

On Tuesday, April 23, the board plans to introduce the new superintendent at the school board meeting.

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