The school board decided three weeks ago to send out a request for proposal for firms to help find a replacement for outgoing Superintendent Tiffany Anderson. Her contract with the district expires June 30, and the board must find a replacement within 180 days, or by the end of December.

The firms are BWP and Associates of Libertyville, Ill.; Ray and Associates of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Hazard, Young, Attea of Glenview, Ill.; and Chicago-based David Gomez and Associates.

The selected firm would likely help the board recruit and interview candidates from across the nation.

The school board is expected to discuss the firms' responses at a meeting Tuesday.

The board will not open the responses to the proposal to the public, citing Virginia state law that precludes "cost estimates relating to a proposed procurement transaction" from public inspection, according to public information officer Anita Johnston.

At Tuesday's meeting, the school system's financial office also will likely offer a rating system of the interested firms based to the board on a list of criteria outlined in the original request, said board chairman Wendell Jones.

On Tuesday, Jones said he had skimmed the options, which were due Monday, but that he had not looked any in-depth.

Jones said he wants to make certain to get references from districts that each firm has worked with in the past before proceeding.

Three firms -- Ray and Associates, Hazard, Young, Attea and BWP -- are well-known nationally as schools chief headhunters. In 2004, the school board hired Ray and Associates to help find Anderson. That firm charged the school board about $25,000. Jones and board member Wat Hopkins both have said they had some concerns about the company's performance during the previous search.

Hazard, Young, Attea also responded to the 2004 request. BWP has worked with Montgomery County in the past, according to its Web site, but not within the past decade, said Walt Shannon, superintendent of operations.

Hazard says 22 percent of its clients between 2000 and 2007 have been districts close to the size of Montgomery County. In Virginia, the firm has worked with school systems in Northern Virginia, Virginia Beach and as close as Danville Public Schools.

The potential cost of the firms is a point of contention among the seven-member panel.

That decision to hire a firm raised the ire of board member Joe Ivers, who voted against hiring a national firm. He said he'd prefer a more localized search. The board still can decide just how it wants to use the firm, and how far geographically it wants the firm to cast a net.

Members also still can decide to handle the hunt on their own and they can set what they'd like to spend.