Some East End parents are calling on Mayor Luke Ravenstahl to appoint a District 2 school board member who will take a harder line with school Superintendent Mark Roosevelt.

Mr. Ravenstahl issued a call for resumes yesterday, giving residents of District 2 until 5 p.m. July 10 to apply for the school board vacancy created by Tuesday's resignation of Highland Park resident Heather Arnet.

She quit a year and a half into her four-year term, citing growing responsibilities at work. Mr. Ravenstahl will appoint Ms. Arnet's successor, and that person will represent the district's East End and North Side neighborhoods until Dec. 5, 2011.

Residents interested in the position must e-mail a resume and "letter of intent" to pghschoolboard@city.pittsburgh.pa.us. Applicants must be at least 18. Mr. Ravenstahl did not say when he would make the appointment.

"Ms. Arnet was devoted to student achievement and a champion of education, the Pittsburgh Promise and the City of Pittsburgh. Her replacement must possess these same values," Mr. Ravenstahl said in a statement.

But some parents who supported Ms. Arnet's 2007 election bid now say she let them down by failing to ask tough questions about Mr. Roosevelt's academic-improvement efforts. For example, Ms. Arnet angered the group by voting to close the Pittsburgh Schenley High School building in Oakland a year ago.

Parents concerned about Mr. Roosevelt's initiatives have organized a group -- Parents United for Responsible Educational Reform, also called PURE Reform -- to monitor district affairs.

One of PURE's most active members, Kathy Fine, a Highland Park resident critical of Ms. Arnet and Mr. Roosevelt, said she will apply for the vacancy.

"What I would hope to see in the appointment is a school board member that is willing to look at the administration's policies and to ask the hard questions when it comes down to educating the kids," said Ms. Fine, who headed the community coalition that backed Ms. Arnet's campaign two years ago.

Stephanie Tecza, a Polish Hill resident and PURE Reform member who lost the 2007 campaign to Ms. Arnet, said she will apply for the vacancy, too.

Some members of PURE Reform had hoped the vacancy would be filled by election, believing that would be their best shot of getting a board member who shares their point of view.

Told about some parents' demands for a tougher board member, Mr. Ravenstahl's spokeswoman, Joanna Doven, said, "I really can't respond to that. He's going to pick who he wants to pick."

Ms. Doven said the mayor and Mr. Roosevelt see "eye to eye" on some issues, such as the Pittsburgh Promise college scholarship program. But she said the mayor won't call Mr. Roosevelt and ask, "Who should I pick?"

Ms. Doven said the mayor will be looking for someone committed to youth and education. Experience in those areas, she said, would be a plus for applicants.