Warren teacher’s licenses suspended one year for helping kids with state math assessment

Staff report

WARREN

A longtime Warren teacher is serving a one-year suspension of her teaching licenses for giving seventh-graders help during an annual state math assessment.

Patricia A. Raida, 67, a math teacher at the Lincoln Pre-K through Grade 8 building who has had a license since 1969, was suspended without pay by Warren City Schools for five days to start this school year.

The students involved had to retake that portion of the Ohio Achievement Assessment, according to the school district.

School documents say two students asked Raida questions during the test, and she “demonstrated both problems on the board to both of the students” without giving them the answer.

The school district last year notified the Ohio Department of Education about the incident, which notified Raida and the school district last week of the one-year suspension of her high-school and elementary-school teaching certificates. The suspension is contained in a consent agreement Raida signed March 16. She is retiring.

Steve Chiaro, Warren superintendent, said the district is “very specific with the training for our teachers” on carrying out testing on the assessments. The training was followed up with a meeting with teachers to discuss it further, he said.