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State law prompts Coronado USD to review homework rules; parents and teachers weigh in
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Summary
Following a new state 'Healthy Homework' law, district staff said they will review local homework policy and administrative regulations; teachers and students spoke at the meeting urging a focus on nightly reading and less busywork for elementary students.
Coronado Unified staff on March 20 said the district will review its homework policy and administrative regulations to align with the State’s new Healthy Homework Act, which encourages local policies that consider students’ physical and mental health.
Doctor Megan Battle, assistant superintendent for learning, summarized the new state law signed in December 2024 and said the district’s Board Policy (BP 6154) was revised in 2023 but the accompanying administrative regulation (AR 6154) dates from 2016 and will be reexamined. She said administrators reviewed the policy in cabinet and that school principals will review BP/AR at the site level; potential revisions could be brought forward after those site discussions.
During public comment, Silver Strand second‑grade teacher Lindsay Cummins told trustees that current elementary homework often reflects curriculum homework packets and “busy work” that largely duplicates in‑class learning, leaving little teacher prep time. Cummins and her son, third‑grader Kyson Cummins, urged the board to consider restricting elementary homework to nightly reading as an evidence‑based practice and to make optional materials clearly optional.
Doctor Battle said the district will ask site administrators to review the policy with staff and to propose updates where practice has changed. She noted the state law recommends local policies be revisited every five years and called out the district’s plan to align AR updates with current practices and healthy homework guidance. No policy change was adopted at the meeting.
Trustees and staff said they will return with recommended updates if site reviews identify needed changes and that any changes would follow the district’s normal policy revision process (first read then action).
