CPS interim CEO Macquline King is one of three finalists named Friday to lead the school district, in addition to former New York City schools chancellor Meisha Porter and the former head of East Baton Rouge Parish schools in Louisiana Sito Narcisse.

Photos by Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times; Mark Lennihan/AP; courtesy of SJ Apple Group

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The Chicago Board of Education announced three finalists to run the school district Friday.

One surprising name on the list: Macquline King, who has been serving as interim leader of Chicago Public Schools since June, after originally being told she was not in the running.

She joins Meisha Porter, the first Black woman to lead New York City’s school system, and Sito Narcisse, a former superintendent of Louisiana’s East Baton Rouge Parish schools and chief of secondary schools in the District of Columbia. Narcisse is the son of Haitian immigrants.

Next week, the finalists will meet with Mayor Brandon Johnson and will be interviewed by a panel of 15 that includes students, parents, teachers and community members.

The announcement comes after a months-long search process that encountered several hiccups.

Originally, school board members did not plan to make the names of the finalists public because the search firm they hired said that would discourage candidates from applying. But in November, Porter and another candidate’s name became public, and that candidate dropped out of contention.