Hillsborough Township School District

Hillsborough Township School District
Address
379 South Branch Road Hillsborough Township , Somerset County , New Jersey , 08844 United States
Coordinates	40°30′18″N74°40′24″W / 40.505059°N 74.673435°W / 40.505059; -74.673435
District information
Grades	PreK-12
Superintendent	Michael Volpe [1]
Business administrator	Gerald Eckert [2]
Schools	9
Students and staff
Enrollment	7,288 (as of 2020–21) [3]
Faculty	596.6 FTEs [3]
Student–teacher ratio	12.2:1 [3]
Other information
District Factor Group	I
Website	www.htps.us
Ind. Per pupil District spending Rank (*) K-12 average  %± vs. average 1A Total Spending $17,505 37 $18,891 −7.3% 1 Budgetary Cost 13,624 36 14,783 −7.8% 2 Classroom Instruction 8,540 44 8,763 −2.5% 6 Support Services 2,447 64 2,392 2.3% 8 Administrative Cost 1,211 14 1,485 −18.5% 10 Operations & Maintenance 1,142 6 1,783 −36.0% 13 Extracurricular Activities 254 53 268 −5.2% 16 Median Teacher Salary 66,305 60 64,043 Data from NJDoE 2014 Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending. [4] *Of K-12 districts with more than 3,500 students. Lowest spending=1; Highest=103

The Hillsborough Township School District is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Hillsborough Township in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. ^[5] Students from Millstone attend the district's schools, originally as part of a sending/receiving relationship; the New Jersey commissioner of education merged Millstone's non-operating school district with the Hillsborough Township School District, effective July 1, 2009. ^[6]

As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of nine schools, had an enrollment of 7,288 students and 596.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.2:1. ^[3]

The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "I", the second-highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J. ^[7]

Schools

Schools in the district (with 2020–21 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics ^[8] ) are: ^{[9] [10] [11] [12]}

Elementary schools

• Amsterdam Elementary School ^[13] (456 students; in grades K-4)
  • Michele Fisher, principal ^[14]
• Hillsborough Elementary School ^[15] (488; K-4)
  • Susan Eckstein, principal
• Sunnymead Elementary School ^[16] (495; K-4)
  • Tammy Jenkins, principal
• Triangle Elementary School ^[17] (354; K-4)
  • Anthony Aliperti, principal ^[18]
• Woodfern Elementary School ^[19] (354; K-4)
  • Steven Kerrigan, principal
• Woods Road Elementary School ^[20] (421; PreK-4)
  • Thomas Rathjen, principal ^[21]

Intermediate / middle schools

• Auten Road Intermediate School ^[22] (1,143; 5-6)
  • Christopher Carey, principal
• Hillsborough Middle School ^[23] (1,218; 7-8)
  • Joseph Trybulski, principal

High school

• Hillsborough High School ^[24] (2,318; 9-12)
  • Jeffrey DiLollo, principal ^[14]

Former and converted schools

• Hillsborough Elementary School was previously the high school prior to 1969 (when the current high school opened), and after that became the middle school. After the current middle school opened in 1975, HES became a K-5 elementary school. However, it would quickly also then house all the 6th graders in town as overcapacity at (the new) HHS resulted in the 9th graders being moved to the new middle school in place of the 6th graders, who were moved down to HES. In 1987, the 9th graders returned to the high school and the 6th graders returned to the middle school from HES after an expansion to the high school was built to house the additional capacity.
• Amsterdam School was opened in 1990 after overcapacity at Woods Road School plus new housing developments being built in that section of the township. The school celebrated its 25th anniversary in the 2015-16 school year. ^[25]
• Auten Road Intermediate School was opened in 1999 as a K-5 elementary school. However, when there was overcapacity at Hillsborough Middle School, then a 6-8 school, and the elementary schools (each of which housed 5th grade in addition to K-4 at the time), an expansion was built to Auten Road School to make it a 5-6 school in time for the 2002-03 school year. ^[26] The other 6 elementary schools would now only house K-4 students and the middle school only had 7-8, and that configuration continues today.
• Liberty School was a two-room school built circa 1912 to replace an earlier one-room school of the same name. It was demolished in the early 1990s. ^[27]

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are: ^{[28] [29]}

• Michael Volpe, superintendent ^[1]
• Gerald Eckert, business administrator and board secretary ^[2]

Aiman Mahmoud, the district's business administrator and board secretary, resigned in December 2021. In the following days, Superintendent Lisa Antunes announced that she would be taking a leave of absence. The county prosecutor stated that an investigation into the district's finances would be undertaken in conjunction with the Hillsborough Township police. ^[30] Mahmoud would be replaced by Gerald Eckert, the district's Assistant Business Administrator / Board Secretary from January 2008 to August 2014. After that, he was the Business Administrator / Board Secretary in Randolph Township Schools until he returned to Hillsborough. ^[2] Antunes would eventually resign as superintendent in April 2022 during her leave of absence. ^[31] She had been the superintendent since May 2020 after previously serving as acting superintendent from October 2019 to May 2020 after the abrupt retirement of previous superintendent Jorden Schiff. ^{[32] [33]} After Antunes began her leave of absence and after she resigned, Assistant Superintendent Kim Feltre would serve as acting superintendent. In August 2022, Daniel Fishbein was hired to serve as interim superintendent. Michael Volpe would become the permanent superintendent in January 2023. ^{[34] [1] [35]}

Board of education

The district's board of education, comprised of nine members, sets policy and oversees the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its administration. As a Type II school district, the board's trustees are elected directly by voters to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with three seats up for election each year held (since 2013) as part of the November general election. The board appoints a superintendent to oversee the district's day-to-day operations and a business administrator to supervise the business functions of the district. ^{[36] [37] [38]}

References

1. Tarrazi, Alexis (November 2, 2022). "New Superintendent Appointed To Lead Hillsborough Schools". Hillsborough Patch . Retrieved December 19, 2022.
2. Hirsch, Rod (January 25, 2022). "Eckert Returns to Hillsborough Schools as New Business Administrator". Hillsborough TapInto . Retrieved December 19, 2022.
3. District information for Hillsborough Township Public School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 15, 2022.
4. Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending April 2013, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 15, 2013.
5. Hillsborough Township Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Hillsborough Township Public Schools. Accessed May 15, 2020. "Purpose: The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades pre-kindergarten through 12 in the Hillsborough Township School District. Composition: The Hillsborough Township School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Hillsborough Township. Millstone Borough is included in the district under the terms of a sending-receiving relationship."
6. June 30, 2009 Letter from Lucille Davy to Millstone School District Board President Merging Millstone with Hillsborough, New Jersey Department of Education Accessed October 17, 2018.
7. NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 8, 2009.
8. School Data for the Hillsborough Township School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 15, 2022.
9. Schools Contacts, Hillsborough Township School District. Accessed June 2, 2022.
10. Public Schools Directory 2023–2024, Somerset County, New Jersey. Accessed March 1, 2024.
11. School Performance Reports for the Hillsborough Township Public School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed March 17, 2024.
12. New Jersey School Directory for the Hillsborough Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.
13. Amsterdam Elementary School, Hillsborough Township School District. Accessed June 2, 2022.
14. Makin, Cheryl (August 1, 2022). "Meet the new principal at Hillsborough High School". MyCentralJersey.com . USA Today . Retrieved December 19, 2022.
15. Hillsborough Elementary School, Hillsborough Township School District. Accessed June 2, 2022.
16. Sunnymead Elementary School, Hillsborough Township School District. Accessed June 2, 2022.
17. Triangle Elementary School, Hillsborough Township School District. Accessed June 2, 2022.
18. Dempsey, Geoff (June 13, 2019). "New Principal At Hillsborough's Triangle Elementary". Hillsborough, NJ Patch. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
19. Woodfern Elementary School, Hillsborough Township School District. Accessed June 2, 2022.
20. Woods Road Elementary School, Hillsborough Township School District. Accessed June 2, 2022.
21. Makin, Cheryl (June 29, 2021). "Meet Hillsborough High School's new principal". MyCentralJersey.com . USA Today . Retrieved July 20, 2021.
22. Auten Road Intermediate School, Hillsborough Township School District. Accessed June 2, 2022.
23. Hillsborough Middle School, Hillsborough Township School District. Accessed June 2, 2022.
24. Hillsborough High School, Hillsborough Township School District. Accessed June 2, 2022.
25. Amsterdam School celebrates 25 years Hillsborough Beacon. Accessed July 28, 2019
26. Gillette, Gregory. Schools - The View from Hillsborough MyCentralJersey.com Blogs. Accessed July 28, 2019
27. Gillette, Gregory (June 1, 2017). "Liberty School". Gillette On Hillsborough. Retrieved November 24, 2019– via Blogger.
28. Administrative Contacts, Hillsborough Township Public Schools. Accessed June 2, 2022.
29. New Jersey School Directory for Somerset County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.
30. Hirsch, Rod. "Hillsborough School Board Acknowledges Criminal Probe into Finances", TAP into Hillsborough, December 24, 2021. Accessed January 3, 2022. "Five days after the abrupt resignation of Business Administrator/Board Secretary Aiman Mahmoud, the Hillsborough School Board sent a message to parents and the school community early Friday morning acknowledging an ongoing audit of the office and an investigation by the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office and Hillsborough Police.... The letter does not reference the temporary leave of absence of Schools Supt. Dr. Lisa Antunes, announced Wednesday, or the status of a second employee who works in the Central School District office, who was put on a leave of absence by the school board Monday night. The Somerset County Prosecutor Wednesday confirmed a joint investigation with township police into the finances of the Hillsborough Public Schools following Mahmoud's resignation, which was recommended by Antunes."
31. "Hillsborough Superintendent Resigns, School Finances Probe Continues". Hillsborough Patch . April 26, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
32. Tarrazi, Alexis (May 13, 2020). "Dr. Antunes Named Hillsborough's New Superintendent of Schools". Hillsborough Patch . Retrieved May 15, 2020.
33. Tarrazi, Alexis (September 17, 2019). "Hillsborough Superintendent Dr. Jorden Schiff Abruptly Retires". Hillsborough Patch . Retrieved December 19, 2022.
34. Tarrazi, Alexis (August 24, 2022). "New Interim Superintendent Hired To Head Hillsborough Schools". Hillsborough Patch . Retrieved December 19, 2022.
35. "New Hillsborough Schools Superintendent Expects to Begin Work Jan. 23". Hillsborough TapInto. January 2, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
36. New Jersey Boards of Education by District Election Types - 2018 School Election, New Jersey Department of Education, updated February 16, 2018. Accessed January 26, 2020.
37. Comprehensive Annual Financial Report of the Hillsborough Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2019. Accessed May 15, 2020. "The Township of Hillsborough School District is an instrumentality of the State of New Jersey, established to function as an educational institution. The Board consists of elected officials and is responsible for the fiscal control of the District."
38. About the Board of Education, Hillsborough Township School District. Accessed January 23, 2020. "The Hillsborough Township Board of Education, both as a state agency and as the elected representative body of the citizens of the Township on school matters, is legally responsible for education in our school district.... The Board is comprised of nine members each serving three year terms. Members of the Board of Education volunteer their time and are not offered compensation."

External links

• Hillsborough Township School District
• School Performance Reports for the Hillsborough Township School District , New Jersey Department of Education
• School Data for the Hillsborough Township School District, National Center for Education Statistics