Richmond County's next superintendent will come from outside the area.

The finalists in the running to replace Charles Larke were announced Tuesday: Superintendent Dana Bedden, of William Penn School District in suburban Philadelphia; Superintendent Shirley Carraway, of Orange County Schools in Hillsborough, N.C.; and Assistant Superintendent Susan Clark, of Henry County Public Schools in metro Atlanta.

"They're wonderful," board member Venus Cain said of the three. "No-nonsense people."

The finalists are the type of leaders who will hold people accountable, she said.

Personnel Committee Chairman Alex Howard shared her enthusiasm.

"I think each one will make a good superintendent," he said. "The good thing is we have a tough decision."

Dr. Clark works in a school system slightly larger than Richmond County. Henry County has about 35,000 students.

In 2005-06, its student body was 54 percent white and less than a third were low-income, according to the Georgia Department of Education.

That's a bit different than Richmond County, which has 78 percent minority students and 70 percent low-income.

Board members are seeking a superintendent with a proven record of student achievement, someone to address the schools in Richmond County that have failed to make adequate yearly progress.

In Henry County, 31 of its 35 schools made AYP compared with 38 of 55 in Richmond County.

The other finalists come from much smaller school systems.

Dr. Bedden leads a suburban Philadelphia school system of 5,500 students. About 60 percent of them come from low-income families.Dr. Carraway's Orange County has about 7,000 students with about 30 percent minority.

However, both have experience in larger systems. Dr. Carraway served as associate superintendent of a school system with 20,000 students in Greenville, N.C., and Dr. Bedden was a regional superintendent in Philadelphia, which had 200,000 students.

In William Penn, five of his 11 schools met progress targets.

In 2005-06, Orange County met 48 of 54 of North Carolina's academic benchmarks but failed to make adequate yearly progress. Only three of the county's 12 schools made progress targets.

According to state law, the board now must wait at least two weeks before selecting a superintendent. The search began in August.