The temporary protection order against Robert Bunker has been dismissed, but the Chimacum School Board director has resigned at the request of the board president and school district superintendent.

The temporary order was filed Oct. 24 in Kitsap County Superior Court at the request of Bunker’s estranged wife, Holly, who alleged she was the victim of domestic violence. But Holly Bunker requested the petition be dismissed during a follow-up hearing Nov. 1.

The temporary order also also prevented Bunker from being within 500 feet of the Chimacum School District’s main campus, where its school board meetings are held.

The Chimacum School District received a letter of resignation from Robert Bunker the afternoon of Nov. 2.

Chimacum School District Superintendent Rick Thompson issued a statement the same day, saying he would recommend the board act on Bunker’s resignation at the Nov. 7 meeting, per existing policy.

“At the Nov. 28 meeting, we will review the replacement process,” Thompson stated.

Bunker represents District 4, and his seat is up for election in fall 2019, with a filing window in May. Bunker was appointed to the position on the Chimacum School Board in 2013, and he was elected in 2015.

In his resignation letter, Bunker wrote, “I always strive to do the right thing,” but “that doesn’t mean I haven’t made mistakes.”

Bunker’s letter asked, “How does one regain their good name?” even as he wrote that his life “has always been, and will always be, dedicated to the betterment of others.”

“Let my plight serve as a cautionary tale,” Bunker wrote. “One’s life can be turned upside down in a heartbeat when personal communication becomes public without one’s consent.”

Bunker told media he had hired a private investigator to follow his wife, and he described it as an attempt to save his marriage.

His wife’s petition included a copy of a contract, which both of them had signed, and it tasked her with paying him $500 per month, remaining on the house title, and “perform(ing) sexually for Robert as often as is possible, as requested, or desired, by both parties.”

On Nov. 1, Bunker shared a recording of him and his wife with the Peninsula Daily News that he held up as evidence that he hadn’t coerced her into the contract, since it included him telling her, “I’m not sure you want to put that on paper,” when she told him to add the condition pertaining to sex.

In a phone conversation with The Leader, Bunker said he would not be attending the Nov. 7 school board meeting and echoed his letter by lamenting how “unfortunate it is that playful banter between a couple” can be made public.

Even before Bunker’s statement to The Leader, Thompson said he doubted Bunker would attend the Nov. 7 meeting, but he noted a member of the Jefferson County’s Sheriff’s Office would attend.