2 teachers face firing for giving answers

Two Palm Beach County teachers accused of helping third-grade students with math answers on state standardized tests could be fired by the School Board on Wednesday.

At Citrus Cove Elementary School in Boynton Beach, students reported that teacher Ilissa Sanders, an employee since 2005, offered a thumbs-up for correct answers, pointed to incorrect answers and “would tell them if answer was wrong by whispering or tapping as a clue that the answer was wrong,” according to school district documents.

Sanders did not respond to a voice mail message left at her home.

At Melaleuca Elementary in West Palm Beach, students said teacher Maria Marrero Rios, an employee for eight years, “provided clues that alerted them when they answered a question correctly,” the district said. She could not be reached for comment.

The terminations would be effective Feb. 3. The teachers can file a grievance through their union or appeal through an administrative hearing.

The board also will consider suspending for 10 days two bus drivers and a bus attendant for their actions during recent trips.

On May 17, surveillance video showed bus driver Tiffany Green and bus attendant Sedricka Hayes Clarke failed to properly secure a disabled student into wheelchair restraints. The student fell out of the wheelchair after a left turn. Both women were on their cellphones during the trip.

Bus driver Toccara Thompson is also expected to be suspended for talking on her phone while driving on May 15. She had been reprimanded a month before for the same infraction.