Sunnyside superintendent to resign after DUI arrest in school district vehicle

Longtime Sunnyside School District Superintendent Rick Cole will resign in the wake of his second arrest on drunken driving charges last weekend.

Cole, who has overseen the Yakima Valley’s second-largest school district since 1999, has submitted his resignation effective at the end of the school year when he will retire, said Sunnyside School Board President Stephen Winfree.

Under Cole’s leadership, the district’s graduation rate rose from less than 50 percent to around 90 percent, but he also struggled after his wife died after a long illness more than a year ago, Winfree said.

Cole, 63, has taken a medical leave of absence and is checking into a treatment program, district officials said.

The board plans to appoint former Superintendent Mac Chambers to head the district while a search begins for Cole’s successor.

Winfree said he spoke to Cole after learning about his arrest and that Cole made the decision himself to resign.

“(Cole) set high standards for conduct, and he knows that his conduct fell below it,” Winfree said in a phone interview Wednesday. “He is remorseful for it.”

“I know that he has had peers and others who said don’t make the decision (now), make it when (he has) time to reflect,” Winfree said. “He knows it is the right thing for the school and to get his life in order.”

Cole was arrested Saturday afternoon after a motorist reported an erratically driven car heading east on Interstate 82 near Parker around 3:45 p.m., according to the affidavit filed by the Washington State Patrol.

The witness told dispatchers that the car had gone off the road at one point and nearly caused a collision.

A trooper clocked the 2009 Toyota Camry at 80 mph in a 70 mph zone and saw the car, which is registered to the school district, repeatedly cross the center line before finally pulling over, the affidavit said.

Employees are allowed to use district vehicles for school functions and the district is working to determine why Cole was using the Camry at the time, spokeswoman Jessica Morgan said.

Cole failed a sobriety test and a breath test registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.186, more than twice the legal limit, the affidavit said.

He was arrested on charges of driving while intoxicated as well as driving a car lacking an ignition interlock device, which the state Department of Licensing required Cole to use after an earlier arrest on suspicion of DUI.

The restriction would have been lifted on Tuesday, according to a probable cause affidavit.

In June, Cole was charged with drunken driving in Benton County, and pleaded guilty in October to an amended charge of negligent driving.

While Cole was not convicted of DUI, the licensing department can require the interlock if the initial charge involved impaired driving, Benton County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Clark said Wednesday.

Cole was sentenced to 90 days in jail, with 89 days suspended and credit for one day served, and he also had to attend an alcohol information school.

Winfree said he was not aware of the earlier charge.

This story was originally published January 27, 2016 at 3:51 PM with the headline "Sunnyside superintendent to resign after DUI arrest in school district vehicle."