Bellevue School Board president Peter Bentley resigned from his position on the board Monday, becoming the second school board member to leave the board this year.

Bentley, who's been on the board for 13 years and would have been up for re-election next year, said he decided the time was right because he is changing jobs, and because his youngest son just graduated from Interlake High School, meaning he has no more children in district schools.

During the teachers' strike in 2008, some residents were critical of the board for being out-of-touch because several members no longer had school-age children.

"It's important to have people on the board with kids in the system," Bentley said.

Earlier this year, long-time member Judy Bushnell retired from the board before her term expired. She was replaced by Betsy Johnson, the president of the Bellevue Schools Foundation, who has young children enrolled in district schools.

Bentley said he thinks the district is in good hands with Superintendent Amalia Cudeiro, who was hired a year ago and whose focus is eliminating the achievement gap. "I think she is very capable, and if I didn't think she was doing a good job, I wouldn't feel comfortable stepping down right now," he said.

Bentley is moving from a position at Washington Trust Bank, where he works as a credit administrator, to Union Bank.

The school district has 90 days to fill his position on the board, and is looking for interested applicants who live within District 2, in the northeast section of the district. Here's a link to application materials, a letter from Cudeiro, job description and a timeline, and additional candidate guide/job description information can be found here.