HILLSBOROUGH: Some things to expect in new school year

   Here are some things you should know about back to school and the new year.
   First day of school for students is Thursday, Sept. 6. Teachers have in-service days for teachers on Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 4 and 5.
      School lunches will cost more. Meals will also be healthier.
   A new federal law will mean more fruits, vegetables and whole grains to the school lunch menu while limiting foods with higher levels of saturated and trans fats and sodium. Elementary schools will see the price increase 25 cents to $2.25. Intermediate and middle schoolers will see the price go to $2.50, also up 25 cents. At the high school, the price will rise 10 cents, up to $2.50.
   Menus will meet guidelines for the amount of meat (or meat alternative). Fruits and vegetables will increase to two full cups per meal, opposed to the current half-cup. All breads must be whole grain. Milk will have no more than 1 percent fat. Students also will see vegetables, like kale or collard or spinach, with which they may be unfamiliar.
   Back to school nights come early (at least some of them).
   The first ones will be Sept. 6 at Sunnymead and Triangle schools, but the parents’ info nights will stretch into October. For times and dates, see story on page 3A.
   The school board is looking for your opinions on continuing random drug testing at the high school.
   Monday’s school board agenda showed the receipt of two letters on the subject. Former board vice president Marc Rosenberg gave comments from the floor. A portion of meetings will be set aside for public discussion. An online survey will soon be on the school website. Feedback is invited through Oct. 22, when the board is expected to vote whether to continue testing of students who participate in extracurricular activities, sports, or drive to school.
   This is a contract year for staff.
   The teacher/staff contract expires in June 2013, and meetings between the education association and the Board of Education’s negotiating team should begin by mid-fall, said Barbara Parker, education association president.
   ”This year the association continues our escalating contribution to our health benefits costs, which will go to an 18 percent contribution, so most teachers will actually see less in their paychecks this year than they did last year,” she said.
   This year will also see the selection of a state-approved teacher evaluation program, one of the four approved by the state. The teachers and administrators began research into the programs last year and will soon select the best program for our district, said Ms. Parker.
   ”We will also begin the first year under the new state tenure law, which will be tied to the new evaluations,” she said.
   Email and web addresses have changed. The old ones with that long address at hillsborough.k12.us.nj will still work for now, but simpler email addresses will come with the school district’s move to a google system.
   You can still use the first initial and last name, followed by the simple suffix htps.us.
   A new address for Superintendent Jorden Schiff, for instance, is [email protected].
   There are lots of new faces.
   The district has about 55 new hires starting in September. The district is ready to bring Spanish and Chinese in a world language program reintroduced in the elementary schools.
   Michael Picciottoli was hired Monday as the 10-month vice principal at Auten Road Intermediate School, at $85,200. He replaces Steven Kerrigan, who began his teaching career here and was chosen this summer as the new Woodfern School principal this summer.
   Also hired were 16 new part- and fulltime teachers, a third school nurse at the high school, and an assistant athletic director at the high school. The board created a data analyst position.
   The board also accepted the resignation, effective Aug. 15, of health and physical education teacher Fred Keiper, who had been employed by the district since 1969.
   Students should have received their bus passes in the mail towards the end of August.
   The first football game is Friday, Sept. 7, at Sklyland Conference foe Phillipsburg and the first home game is Sept. 14 against Westfield.
   The school theater department will unveil its year’s bill of shows, including the March musical, at its opening night Broadway show on Monday, Sept. 10.