The citizen committee assembled by the Monroe County School Board to help choose the county's first hired schools superintendent shed 40 applicants from an original pool of 56 at a meeting held Thursday in Marathon.

The board will make the final hiring decision, but the committee reviewed applicants for basic qualifications and will meet twice again this month.

Superintendent Jesus Jara remains in the running as the only local candidate and the first to apply.

He joins the following candidates who passed the first round, listed in the order in which they applied: Wayne Alexander of Old Lyme, Conn.; Joanne Calabro of Mount Arlington, N.J.; Luis Gonzalez of Harrisburg, Pa.; Shannon Goodsell of Tahlequah, Okla.; Paul Sequeira of New Britain, Conn.; Harry LaCava of Vero Beach; Dennis Albright of Sutton, W.Va.; Geoffrey Gordon of Sands Point, N.Y.; Edward Shine of Easton, Conn.; Frank Mellaci of Landaff, N.H.; Mark Porter of Woodbury, Minn.; Constance Clark-Snead of Westbury, N.Y.; Art Stellar of Hingham, Mass.; Thomas Gay of Port St. Lucie; and Keith Bell Sr. of Gahanna, Ohio.