Albert Lea School District Superintendent Mike Funk is one of three finalists for the job of superintendent in the St. Cloud Area School District.

He was among seven candidates to be interviewed Wednesday and Thursday.

The St. Cloud school board plans to replace Superintendent Bruce Watkins, who is retiring when his contract ends in June.

The other two finalists are:

• Nettie Collins-Hart, superintendent for the Proviso Township High Schools district in Forest Park, Ill.

• Willie Jett, assistant superintendent for the St. Paul school district.

Funk earlier this week said he was recruited by a search firm for the position. The job holds appeal to him because it’s where his wife, Anne, is from, and whose family still resides there.

The next step requires a daylong interview, according to the St. Cloud Times. Candidates will be scheduled for Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. Community members will meet with candidates from 5 to 5:45 p.m. each of those days.

Funk confirmed he will have his daylong interview on Tuesday.

The school board is slated to select a final candidate at 8:45 p.m. Wednesday.

The Times said Funk was the last candidate to be interviewed.

“His leadership style, he said, is authentic, strategic and decisive,” the Times wrote. “He said he wants to bring his leadership experience to St. Cloud as the district moves forward.”

The St. Cloud Area School District is the largest in central Minnesota, with almost 9,500 students. It is almost triple the size of the Albert Lea School District, which has an enrollment of about 3,200 students.

Funk was previously one of seven interviewed for superintendent of Rochester Public Schools in May 2011.