If the school board of a Class IV or V school district or certificated employee thereof determines that a hearing shall be conducted by a hearing officer, the parties to the hearing or their representatives shall select a hearing officer. Any person selected as a hearing officer pursuant to this section shall be an attorney admitted to practice in Nebraska and shall be knowledgeable in the rules of civil procedure and evidence applicable to the district courts. If the parties cannot agree on the selection of a hearing officer within seven days after the filing of the request for a hearing, the secretary of the school board shall immediately request a list of hearing officers from the State Department of Education. The department shall at all times maintain a list of at least five qualified hearing officers and shall provide a copy of the list within five days after receipt of a written request from the secretary of a school board. The parties or their representatives shall select the hearing officer by alternately removing a name from the list until only one name remains. The person whose name remains shall be the hearing officer. The parties shall determine by lot which party shall remove the first name from the list. Such selection shall be completed within seven days after the receipt of the list from the department. The secretary of the school board shall inform the department of the name of the hearing officer selected.