Nine people have applied for Curt Rude’s school board seat, most of them turning in last minute applications at the Friday afternoon deadline.

The seventh seat has been vacant since March when the board voted unanimously to oust Rude, deciding a pending defamation suit he held against the district and a former superintendent posed a conflict of interest. The lawsuit was dismissed by a judge earlier this month.

The district’s Personnel Committee — board chairman Dick Lees, former chairman Don Fox and treasurer Jeff Kritzer — will review the applications at 4 p.m. today and select four finalists.

The finalists will interview before the entire school board at a special meeting on July 20. The board is expected to appoint one of the candidates to Rude’s seat at the same meeting.

The appointee will finish Rude’s term, which ends in December 2011.

School board candidates

 Richard Bergstrom

Aaron DeVries

Julie Farnsworth

Eugene Groby

Nitaya Jandragholica

Robin Krueger

Jeff Ollman

Lisa Peters

Robert Vilt