March 7, 2007, Redmond, Wash. – At Monday night’s meeting, Bob Hughes announced his intention to resign from the Board of Directors of the Lake Washington School District, to be effective April 1. Hughes noted that he and his wife would be moving out of the district to live closer to their grandchildren.

Hughes has served on the Board since June 1978. He served as Board President four times, in 1983, 1986, 1987 and 1993. Hughes has become an expert on both educational and technology reform, speaking at more than 600 workshops and conferences, organizing nine major conferences and educating legislators.

"One of the most important reasons for the success of our school district is a school board that has strong, consistent, long-term leadership,” noted Superintendent Don Saul. “Bob has been a thoughtful, reasoned advocate for public education and for the children of this district for almost 30 years.”

Current Board President Jackie Pendergrass stated the Board will announce a process for filling Hughes’ position through Board appointment shortly. He served as the board member from District 2, which is made up of the geographic boundaries for Bell Elementary, Community School, Franklin Elementary, Kirk Elementary, Lakeview Elementary, Kirkland Junior High, and Lake Washington High School, all in Kirkland. Candidates must be registered voters who live in that area. If appointed, they would serve until the next regularly scheduled board election, in November 2007.

Lake Washington School District is the sixth largest district in the state of Washington. It has over 23,000 students in 48 schools located in Kirkland, Redmond, and Sammamish, Washington.