The School Committee has announced the names of the three finalist candidates for superintendent of schools when Jeffrey Young leaves the post at the end of the school year. A Town Hall Community Forum will be held Thursday so members of the public may meet the finalists, followed by public interviews by the committee Friday at a special meeting.

The finalists are:

Sergio M. Paez, a consultant to the Holyoke Public Schools, where he formerly led the district as superintendent, appointed in 2013. Paez was previously assistant superintendent and English language learners director for the Worcester Public Schools and language acquisitions director for Leominster Public Schools. He also served as an assistant principal in Fitchburg, where he began his educational career as an elementary bilingual teacher. Paez holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Fitchburg State College, master’s degree in school administration from Harvard University and doctorate degree in education from Boston College. Recent honors include the 2014 and 2015 Holyoke Early Literacy Initiative Award, 2014 Pacesetters Award and 2015 Gateway Cities Innovation Award in Education.

Kenneth N. Salim is superintendent of the Weymouth Public Schools, having held that position since 2012. Salim was previously employed by the Boston Public Schools as senior director of the chief academic office, interim assistant superintendent for professional development, director of new teacher support and teacher development, science department supervisor and technology support teacher leader. He also served as special assistant for policy and planning for the San Francisco Unified School District. Salim holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Brown University and a master’s degree in education policy and management and doctoral degree in the Urban Superintendents Program from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Recent honors include membership in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Professional Development Brain Trust, the 2014 Governor’s STEM Advisory Council and the 2013 American Public University System Prize for Innovation in Online Education.

Stacy L. Scott is superintendent of the Framingham Public Schools, having joined that district in 2012 after serving as superintendent of the Dracut Public Schools. Scott was formerly associate superintendent for the Office of Shared Accountability at the Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, founder and president of the Center for Understanding Equity in Boston and co-founder and principal of ExecResults Consulting in Westford. He also served as director of diversity at the Park School, taught math and Spanish at the Noble and Greenough School and has practiced as a clinical psychologist. Scott holds a bachelor’s degree in international government from Harvard-Radcliffe, and master’s and doctorate degrees in counseling and consulting psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Scott’s recent presentations include “Making Equity Work,” “Five Steps in Changing School Culture” and “Accountability in Action.”

The national search led by Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates in the spring yielded a final pool of 42 applicants, a dozen of whom were considered and seven of whom were interviewed by a 19-member search committee, resulting in these three finalist candidates being recommended to the School Committee for further consideration.

“We look forward to the final phases of the search, and on behalf of the entire Cambridge School Committee, I extend sincere thanks and appreciation for the dedication and thoughtful work performed by each of the Superintendent Search Interview Committee members,” said Mayor David Maher, who leads the School Committee, in a press release. “There was a tremendous amount of synergy and forward thinking gained by bringing this great, diverse group of talented people together. It has been the School Committee’s goal to have a transparent and inclusive process, informed throughout by the rich mosaic of voices of the City’s public school stakeholders. We hope that many people are able to join us at the Town Hall Community Forum to meet the candidates on Oct. 15, and welcome this additional opportunity for community engagement and feedback.”

Before the Town Hall Community Forum, the finalists will tour elementary, upper, and high school classrooms in Cambridge and meet with high school student representatives.

The Community Forum will be broadcast on Channel 99 and can also be streamed online at the district’s website. Those attending will be provided the opportunity to give written feedback to the committee, and a feedback form will be included on the website’s Superintendent Search link. Members of the public may also submit online advance suggestions for questions to be posed to the candidates at the Forum.

A selection by the committee is expected by the end of October – before municipal elections that could result in a change in committee membership and a new mayor.

The Town Hall Community Forum will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday in the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School’s Fitzgerald Auditorium, 459 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge.

This post took significant amounts of material from a press release.