Olentangy Schools Superintendent retiring at the end of the school year
Olentangy Local Schools Superintendent Mark T. Raiff is retiring at the end of the school year.
The district’s school board will accept his resignation at Thursday’s board meeting, the district announced Wednesday evening. His last day as superintendent will be July 31.
More:Olentangy Schools: Official 'made a personal judgment' to halt Dr. Seuss reading on NPR
“Although we approached Mr. Raiff several times to extend his Superintendent contract, we understand and respect his decision to retire at the end of this school year and wish him the best,” said Board President Kevin O’Brien.
Olentangy’s Board of Education will discuss plans for a Superintendent search and hiring process at Thursday’s board meeting.
Raiff has been the district’s superintendent for eight years. He first came to the district in 2003 as an assistant principal at Olentangy High School and has also been the principal at Liberty High School and Chief Academic Officer for the district.
"Raiff has modeled leadership, courage and professionalism for all of Olentangy," said Olentangy Teachers Association President Elaine Eddy.
Raiff also served in principal roles at Bexley High School, Westerville South, and Westerville Central High School before coming to Olentangy. He has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Case Western University, teaching credentials from John Carroll University, and a Master’s in Education from Cleveland State University. He plans to retire with his wife in North Carolina.
Raiff led the district through the COVID-19 pandemic. The district also passed two levies and built three schools (Berlin High School, Shale Meadows Elementary, and Berlin Middle School) during his time as superintendent.
“Mr. Raiff’s knowledge, forward-thinking approach, and commitment to our district’s mission to facilitate maximum learning has allowed Olentangy Schools to remain a top academically performing school district through some of our most challenging times," O’Brien said.
The district recently came under nationwide scrutiny after the district’s assistant communications director Amanda Beeman stopped a classroom reading of the Dr. Seuss book “The Sneetches” after students asked about race during NPR’s Jan. 6 episode of “Planet Money” about economic lessons in children’s books.
Shale Meadows Elementary School teacher Mandy Robek was reading the book to her class on Dec. 13 but the reading was halted after a student commented "It's almost like what happened back then, how people were treated ... Like, white people disrespected Black people."
Raiff told The Dispatch in a prepared statement that Beeman made a "personal judgment call to halt the reading of the book."
“Olentangy Schools’ assistant communication director Amanda Beeman decided in the moment that the conversation surrounding the book 'The Sneetches' was going in a direction different than what was shared with parents that would take place and caused her concern,” Raiff said in his statement. "'The Sneetches' is not banned and conversations surrounding race, discrimination, and segregation are welcomed and encouraged in our classrooms."
@megankhenry
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Olentangy Schools Superintendent retiring at the end of the school year
