Boardman teacher pleads guilty to OVI; school district supports him

June 17, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

By ROBERT CONNELLY

CANFIELD

The Boardman school district supports its teacher who pleaded guilty in court Tuesday to a charge of operating a vehicle impaired.

Andrew Wade, 37, of Canfield, a teacher at Glenwood Middle School, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor first-offense OVI. Traffic charges of failure to comply with the order of a police officer and hit-skip were dismissed. He is allowed to take part in a 72-hour driver intervention program in lieu of three days in jail, has to pay a $375 fine plus court costs on the OVI charge, has occupational driving privileges and a six-month license suspension. He will also be on 12 months’ probation.

“The district supports Mr. Wade,” said Frank Lazzeri, Boardman schools superintendent in a prepared statement. “He’s a great teacher and he will continue with the district for the 2015 to 2016 school year.”

Wade’s attorney declined to comment after his plea deal was accepted in Mahoning County Area Court in Canfield by Judge Scott D. Hunter.

Police reports said Wade drove left of the center line on Tippecanoe Court while driving north on the road and struck the side of a vehicle traveling south on the street about 7 p.m. Nov. 29, 2014. A Mahoning County deputy sheriff, sitting in the Tippecanoe Square parking lot, witnessed the Wade vehicle strike the side of the other vehicle, activated his emergency lights but the vehicle failed to stop and continued north toward Tippecanoe Road.

After stopping at an apartment complex after running a stop sign and turning onto two streets, a field-sobriety test was performed on Wade. A breath test at the Canfield Police Department registered Wade’s blood-alcohol content at 0.17. The legal limit for intoxication in Ohio is 0.08.