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Riverview SD policy committee debates homework policy, agrees to add IEP guideline language
Summary
After a lengthy debate, the Riverview SD policy committee agreed to add explicit language to homework guidelines to ensure students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) receive accommodations for graded summer or out-of-term assignments, while resisting highly prescriptive rules that administrators said would micromanage teachers.
The Riverview SD policy committee on March 4 debated revisions to the district’s homework policy and reached consensus to add a guideline affirming that IEP accommodations must be honored for assignments that affect students’ grades.
The discussion centered on whether summer or out-of-term assignments that are graded should trigger the same accommodation requirements as in-term work. Board member Antonio Perez, who raised the issue in the policy session, argued that courts have treated graded summer work as part of a student’s educational record and therefore subject to IEP protections. "If I'm doing a piece of homework or something that is then used as a grade later or I'm evaluated on later, my accommodations still have to be given," Perez said during the meeting.
Administrators and building principals told the committee they support adding IEP language to the guidelines but warned against turning the policy into a prescriptive checklist that could restrict teacher autonomy. David Zatowski, a principal who spoke during the session, said adding a focused IEP statement would cover the vast majority of cases while avoiding micromanagement: "If you put in language under guidelines about IEPs, that's gonna encapsulate 99.9% of the kids and put a demarcation for staff and everybody else," he said.
Several committee members cautioned that overly detailed homework rules could create dozens of narrowly defined triggers—"the more language you add, the more people can pick it apart," one participant said—leading to disputes over subjective terms like "meaningful" or "unsatisfactory." Administrators recommended that the policy keep broad principles while inserting a clear directive that homework, whether assigned during the school year or over the summer, must comply with IEPs and related SDIs.
As a practical step, the committee asked district staff to draft specific IEP guideline language for review and to circulate the draft to members before the full board meeting. Board members also discussed whether responsibility sections in the policy might raise collective-bargaining questions if they specify day-to-day teacher duties; the committee agreed to seek administration input on that point before finalizing any language.
The committee did not adopt a final, detailed homework rule at the meeting; members agreed to forward the IEP guideline addition to the board and to let administration propose the specific wording.
The committee adjourned after completing its agenda; the policy committee chair said the IEP language will be prepared by staff and distributed to members for review before the item reaches the full board.
