The Albert Lea school board Monday talked about how to proceed with filling the vacant board seat.

Five candidates had applied within the time allotted, and the board discussed at its Monday evening meeting whether to have interviews for all the candidates and how it would do so.

At the Aug. 15 school board meeting it was decided members Jeshua Erickson and Linda Laurie would draft questions, which were available on the school website and at the district office for anyone who wanted to apply for the vacant seat. The deadline was Friday.

“I saw some candidates on here that intrigued me,” board Chairman Bill Leland said.

Five candidates applied including Julie Johnson, vice president at Clarks Grove State Bank; Ed Mikulich, who’s retired; Kim Nelson, executive director of The Children’s Center; Chad Severtson, operations manager at Pro Trucking, Inc.; and Paul Carstens, who’s currently laid off.

Each of the candidates answered a questionnaire with the following questions:

• How long have you been a resident of Albert Lea area?

• What are the top issues facing education/and the Albert Lea Area School District?

• What motivates you to become a member of the Albert Lea Area School Board?

• What do you see as the primary work of the board/board member?

• Can you/should you support a board decision that you are not in favor of?

• How would you handle requests from individuals? Special interest groups?

Leland started the discussion asking how members would like to see the process work. After much discussion it was decided to interview each of the five candidates who applied. The board will come up with a short list of questions to be asked of each candidate, who will most likely be interviewed at the workshop on Oct. 10. The workshop would have to be made a special school board meeting to do the interviews, which would be decided at the Thursday, Sept. 29, regular board meeting.

Superintendent Mike Funk told the board he’d like the district’s attorney to look at the questions before the interview process. The term for the vacant school board seat would end Dec. 31, 2012. Board vice chairwoman, Sally Ehrhardt, resigned in the first week of July citing personal reasons for leaving the board.

“I think it’s very important to us in this room that we get a person who would be a good fit for the board,” Funk said. “One of the strengths of this board is different perspectives.”