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Man quits school job after meth bust By JONEL ALECCIA A popular Medford school employee and board member of Southern Oregon Drug Awareness has quit his job and left the anti-drug agency amid suspicions of methamphetamine involvement. Monte Leon Coley, 30, of Medford, was arrested and jailed May 13 for alleged possession and delivery of methamphetamine. No charges have been filed for lack of evidence, said Jackson County Deputy District Attorney Allan Smith. But Coley has resigned from his job as a special education assistant at Washington Elementary School, Principal Stephanie Johnson confirmed Tuesday. And he has been removed as a SODA board member, director Stephanie Soares Pump said. However, Coley's name was included on the agency directors' roster as recently as a May 16 annual meeting. "It was in name only because he never did anything," said Pump. "He was a like a non-entity." Reached at his home Tuesday, Coley said he intended to resign from the SODA board as part of a plan to move from Medford to California. "It's time to move on," said Coley, who insisted he was innocent of any wrongdoing stemming from a May 13 stop by Medford police. "People who know me know I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Coley said he was returning from a Sunday evening basketball game in a car driven by Antoine Ramone Coleman, 32, no address available, when police stopped the pair. Coleman faces charges of possession and delivery of methamphetamine. Coley had been listed on the SODA board for about a year, but organizers decided to remove him this winter because he missed several meetings, Pump said. Coley asked to be readmitted to the board six weeks ago, but never showed up for subsequent meetings, she said. "What a mess," said Pump. Coley voluntarily resigned the job he'd held at Washington School since 1997 for personal reasons, Johnson said. "He told the staff he's sorry and that he feels that he's going to turn some things around," she said. Coley has worked for several local youth organizations during recent years, including the Rogue Valley Family YMCA, Kids Unlimited and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Jackson County. He said he regretted any negative effect the incident might have on those agencies. Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.