Richmond Hill Teacher’s Temper Foiled

By Christina Carrega

A veteran educator was arrested earlier this week for taunting a student while using a piece of foil from a medication package to scratch the teen’s face.

Around 10 a.m. on Dec. 7, Paul S. Ray held “a sharp object” to a 16-year-old boy’s face and asked him “if (the student) was afraid?” inside Richmond Hill High School, according to the criminal complaint.

Ray, 59, then slashed the teen’s face “approximately three times” with the foil, according to the court document.

The teacher, who has been employed with the Department of Education (DOE) since 1998 as a substitute and became a full-time teacher at Richmond Hill High School in 2000, was arrested on Tuesday.

Ray has no prior disciplinary history.

“We’ve reassigned this teacher pending the criminal investigation of this deeply troubling allegation,” said Doug Cohen, a spokesman with the DOE.

Judge David Kirschner released Ray on his own recognizance after he was arraigned for a slew of charges including second-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

If convicted, Ray faces up to seven years in prison.