Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Homework Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Parent urges district to allow homework to prepare students; board agrees to review policy
Summary
A Westfield Village parent told trustees her sixth grader fell behind and urged the board to support homework to build time-management and study skills; trustees agreed to send the topic to the policy committee for review of board policy 6154 and for district staff to clarify practice and communication to families.
During the public-comment period on Aug. 28, Samantha Freeman, a parent of two Westfield Village Elementary students, told the Washington Unified board that her sixth grader has low test scores and that parents had been given mixed information about whether homework is permitted or required.
"I was told it was a district-wide policy. It was corrected today. It's a contractual policy," Freeman said, and asked the district to improve communication so families can request homework when appropriate. She said homework teaches time management and helps prepare students for middle and high school.
Trustees responded by noting a need to review the district’s homework policy for consistency across sites. Board members said the current homework policy was last updated in 2017 and asked that the policy subcommittee examine whether policy language (specifically board policy 6154) should be revised to clarify that withholding recess is not an appropriate disciplinary response for missing work.
Next steps: Trustees asked staff to bring the homework-policy review to the policy committee and to provide an initial update at a future meeting. The board did not adopt an immediate policy change at the Aug. 28 meeting.
Provenance: Public comment appears at SEG 269–315; board policy discussion occurs later in board comments around SEG 1179–1186.
