By: centraljersey.com
Jorden Schiff took part in his first Board of Education meeting as superintendent of the Hillsborough School District on Monday night.
He began by thanking each of the members and speaking of what an honor it is to be in his position.
"First of all, I would like to say that is an absolute pleasure to be here as your superintendent," he said. "I’ve had the opportunity to sit in the audience for a few board meetings during the month of December, but it is wonderful to actually be a part of this outstanding organization."
After that he took a few moments to praise his predecessor, interim Superintendent Scott Rocco, who is the district’s assistant superintendent of personnel.
"Mr. Rocco, who has served as interim superintendent of schools for approximately six months, has done an outstanding job and has served this community well during his time," Dr. Schiff said. "It is difficult for me to imagine him doing two jobs during this period of time, and he has done both well. So I’d like to recognize his services and thank him."
He also thanked Lisa Antunes, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, and Aiman Mahmoud, school business administrator and board secretary, for their help in acclimating him to the job. He talked about how they helped transition him and how they "spent many hours together talking about aspirations for the district and the challenges that lie ahead."
Finally, he got down to business and talked about his plans for the first few months on the job.
"I’m following a plan called the ‘transition plan,’" he said. "It is basically a 100 days’ worth of activities that I’ll be working on during the first three months that I’m here. These activities include meeting with administrators, citizens, students, teachers and lots of different people who have an interest in the Hillsborough Township public school system.
"The reason I’m doing this is to learn as much as I can about the district and do it in a reasonable amount of time. At the conclusion of the 100-day transition plan I will be sharing my thoughts and judgments about where we are as a district in order to inform the next process, which would be looking at our strategic plan and seeing if that plan needs to be modified, changed, tweaked."
Dr. Schiff was appointed to the position in October and his three-year, $177,500 contract, which expires on June 30, 2014, began on New Year’s Day with his first day on the job being the following Monday, Jan. 3.
"This is truly an exceptional team of leaders that I’ve joined and I’m looking forward to many years of service here," he said.
Dr. Schiff has a 20-year history in New Jersey schools working as a teacher, supervisor, vice principal, principal and assistant superintendent. Prior to coming to Hillsborough he worked as superintendent of the Readington Township School District. Before that he served as an assistant superintendent for curriculum and personnel in Howell Township, coordinator of elementary education and principal in Westfield, principal in High Bridge schools and as an assistant principal, supervisor and affirmative action officer in North Brunswick schools. He also taught and served as a teacher trainer in Bridgewater-Raritan Regional schools and as a special education teacher in the Somerset Hills School in Warren.
Dr. Schiff holds a Bachelor of Science degree in economics, a Master of Education degree in elementary education and a Doctor of Education degree in administration and supervision – all from Rutgers University.

