Local News

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Thursday, May 1, 2008 Duped driving school students seek help Many are still waiting to hear what to do after their school abruptly closed. By David Chircop and Eric Stevick, Herald Writers EVERETT -- The families of more than 250 students left to idle when a private driving school closed suddenly last week have asked for state help. They are still waiting to get direction about what they should do. The state Department of Licensing is inspecting hundreds of student records that it recovered from Sno-King Driving School of Everett. "We just have to wait until they find her records," said Steve Bush, whose 17-year-old daughter, Stephanie, had just one more behind-the-wheel lesson to go before the school shut its doors. A note posted on the school's Everett headquarters last week said the school was closed and its owner had left the country. The school is owned by Bob Hall, 61, a former Mukilteo School Board president with a history of legal and financial troubles. He served on the school board during a stormy stretch from 1995 to 1999, when the district's superintendent and several high-level administrators quit, along with two holdover school board members. Critics threatened a recall effort against Hall. Before moving to Mukilteo, Hall ran into hot water in the late 1970s through the early 1990s involving business ventures in California. Three civil lawsuits in Los Angeles and Orange counties alleged fraud, and judges ordered Hall and his businesses to pay nearly $100,000 in damages and fines. Hall also fell behind on his taxes, twice filing for bankruptcy. Hall told a family member in an e-mail Wednesday that he thought he had his driving school business sold, but the deal fell through. There was no mention in the e-mail about his whereabouts. Sno-King's license to operate a driving school in Washington expired on April 4 this year, according to the Department of Licensing. He could face a $5,000 fine along with the possibility of a lawsuit. Department of Licensing spokeswoman Selena Davis said state inspectors are combing through the school's records on about 500 students. Fortunately, files on individual students have been kept up to date, which will speed up the process of placing them, Davis said. It is not yet clear how many of those students paid $450 tuition to enroll in classes when the school was abruptly closed. The state will try to give students credit for classes that they've already taken, Davis said. So far, no student has received credit. Several competing driving schools have offered students driving lessons at prorated rates so they can pay for only the classes they need in order to test for driver's licenses, she said. "We're trying to shuffle students to other schools," Davis said. The Department of Licensing has attempted to reach Hall without success, Davis said. The Everett Police Department and the state attorney general's office are aware of complaints against the driving school. Sno-King offered classes at Cascade High School in Everett, Jackson High School in Mill Creek and Kamiak High School in Mukilteo. Until recently, it also offered classes at Meadowdale High School in Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace High School. That part of the business earlier this year was sold to Bill Kellogg, who has since renamed it. Clayton West, a Sno-King driving instructor, sensed something was wrong when a co-worker's paycheck bounced two weeks ago. In 2005, Washington began requiring driving school owners and instructors to submit to criminal background checks. West said the state should do more to protect students by requiring schools to be bonded, a rule in Oregon and other states. Some families are expecting to lose their tuition money. Michael Smith, an Everett painter, paid his daughter's tuition in advance. To paint homes, the state requires him to be bonded. He thinks the same standard should be applied to driving schools. "If I go out and do a sloppy job on a house and not complete it, that's what the bond is for," Smith said. Reporter David Chircop: 425-339-3429 or dchircop@heraldnet.com.

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