Harner Resigning From St. Cloud Area School Board

ST. CLOUD - St. Cloud School board vice-chair Cindy Harner, who was arrested last week for suspicion of driving while intoxicated, resigned from her position on Friday.

School board chair Dennis Whipple says he wasn't expecting the announcement from Harner and that the district will miss her contributions.

"She's been putting the district first and it's a sad loss for District 742 today," Whipple says.

Harner sent her resignation letter to Whipple and members of the school board on Friday morning, saying she didn't want to be a distraction on the board with important decisions coming soon.

"The district has much work to do in the coming months. I would like the community to focus on the great things that ISD742 is accomplishing, and not let me personal situation become more of a distraction."

The District will need to vote to accept Harner's resignation during their meeting next Thursday. Whipple says Minnesota law outlines the process for filling the empty seat and that the board will also discuss that during the meeting. Harner's term was originally set to expire in January 2017.

The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office arrested 48-year-old Harner last Wednesday after a motorist called authorities to report a possible impaired driver.

A sheriff’s deputy spotted Harner’s vehicle at the intersection of Highway 23 and County Road 6 in Rockville at about 5:15 p.m. The deputy determined there was cause to make a traffic stop and suspected the driver was impaired. Sheriff’s officials say Harner failed a field sobriety test and was taken to the Stearns County Jail where she refused a breath test.

Harner was booked on suspicion of 4th degree DWI and 3rd Degree Test Refusal.