Secondary Principals Council chairman Graeme Macann said job applications in the secondary sector were dropping to worrying levels and the PPTA's 2008 secondary staffing survey showed 61% of management positions had one or no suitable New Zealand applicants.
A further 32% of management positions could not be filled by New Zealand applicants.
However, Kings High School board of trustees chairman Geoff Rodden said the board hoped to have about nine applications for the principal's position, and was delighted with the six who had applied already.
Mr Rodden believed the number of responses was, in part, because of the reputation the school had built during the past decade.
The applicants were principals, deputy principals or assistant principals from secondary schools across the country, he said.
"Based on a cursory glance at the applications, they are in the vicinity of what [quality] we are looking for."
Mr Rodden hoped the board of trustees would be able to begin interviews on July 19, with a new principal appointed by the end of this month.
Present principal Colin Donald will finish at the end the month to take up a position as a principal's adviser in the United Arab Emirates.
The school's deputy principal, Daryl Shields, will act as principal until the new principal begins.
Mr Rodden said it was hoped the new principal would start at the beginning of term four.
