By LINDA KELLETT

C-S-E News Staff

FORT PLAIN — Coming attractions advertised with a scrolling marquee on the electronic sign board at the Harry Hoag School early this week included this timely notice: “School opens Sept. 5th. Welcome students and staff.”

Faculty and staff have been preparing for the grand opening for months. Because there were no real changes in student programming at budget time, students and their parents may not have noticed that a number of game-changing modifications are going into effect this school year.

One of the changes involves meal requirements.

As noted by District Superintendent Douglas Burton late last week, new federal regulations under the Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2011 went into effect that have an impact on portion sizes per grade level, increase healthy food offerings, and even affect the price of meals.

Consequently, students in kindergarten through third grade will pay 30 cents more per meal than last year, bringing the cost in line with the $1.80 charge that other district students have been paying.

Under the federal regulations, the cost of student lunches is expected to increase about a dollar more over the next few years, to $2.89 per meal, he said. In order to soften the blow, school board members have opted to gradually increase the cost over time, with annual reviews of the matter.

Another change has been precipitated by the state’s Dignity for All Students Act.

Under the act, “everyone has to treat each other with dignity and respect,” said Burton. As a result, new age-appropriate codes of conduct and consequences have been drawn up and approved for all grade levels addressing bullying, cyber-bullying and other issues.

“While it may not be visible to students, they and their parents need to be aware of it,” Burton said, noting that “language and behavior that previously may not have gotten students into hot water” may now have unanticipated consequences.

Along with the provisions of the Dignity Act, teachers and staff have to have annual training in order to facilitate a cordial and safe environment, Burton said.

A copy of the district’s new code of conduct is posted on the district’s website, www.fortplain.org

Also new is a recently approved amendment to the district athletic code addressing concussions.

“Everyone needs to be aware of the concussion possibility,” he said.

If teachers or coaches think someone has sustained head trauma, the district has a new protocol in place. Students sustaining concussions would need a release from a family physician.

During staff development day Tuesday, teachers and administrators also learned how they will be evaluated under the state-mandated Annual Professional Performance Plan.

Finally, in conformance with the state Education Department’s adoption of Common Core Standards, Burton said, “All district teachers need to be reminded we all teach reading, writing and arithmetic.”

He said, “We’ve gotten away from that in the last few years, and we’ve seen students having difficulty making change without calculators,” for example.

Under the Common Core Curriculum, he said all teachers, regardless of subject or discipline, are must now concentrate on students writing in complete sentences, spelling and using proper grammar.

Additionally, he said, “They should be able to do a certain amount of four basic operations in their heads.”

Burton said teachers and administrators have been attending workshops and collaborating with other teachers within their curriculums, grade levels and other areas in order to develop their curriculums.