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Hayden — Hayden parents and students can expect a few changes going into the 2008-09 school year, which starts Tuesday.

Parents can no longer drop off students behind the middle school and high school campus. The district is putting up gates on the eastern side of the football field, at South Poplar Street, and on the western side at the high school parking lot, new Transportation Director Richard "Festus" Hagins said.

Only school personnel and buses will be allowed to drive behind the schools, and all traffic must move east to west, Hagins said. The gates will be closed when school is not in session. The district is making the change for safety reasons, Hagins said.

"People use it as a shortcut to drive through," he said. "The superintendent almost got hit last week."

Parents may drop off students at the parking lot near the administration building on the eastern side or at the high school lot to the west.

The district also is putting up a fence between the administration building and the new Babson-Carpenter Career and Technical Education Center. A booth and walkway there will allow entry to football games, Hagins said.

The district plans to spruce up that fence with a spirited decoration. Hayden High School student Zach Barnes is finishing welding work on the metal outline of a pouncing tiger, Kevin Kleckler said.

Kleckler, who is heading the vocational technology program, said Barnes got the design from the Internet and will complete the tiger this year.

The technical center is on its way to being complete, too, Kleckler said. The classrooms will be finished soon, he said.

"I usually spend about two weeks in the classroom with students, doing safety," Kleckler said. "By the time we're ready, the shops will be ready."

Kleckler said the district will have an open house, possibly Homecoming weekend. State officials including Gov. Bill Ritter will be invited, he said.

Also new this year will be a curriculum to go along with the solar panels installed by the Sierra Club, Technology Director Jim Earley said. Middle school and high school science students will learn about solar power through the program, he said.

With the technology, students can monitor the intensity of the sun, the air temperature and the amount of energy generated.

"It's brand new," Earley said a couple of weeks ago. "We just got that up and running."