lausd policy on homework

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Like death and taxes, homework has long been a standard feature of life – for public education students anyway.

Like death and taxes, homework has long been a standard feature of life, for public education students, anyway.

Homework’s unlikely to go away any time soon, but the ongoing debate about the proper amount and the impact it should have a student’s grade is heating up in L.A. Unified schools and beyond.

Last summer, the Los Angeles Unified School District implemented a new policy allowing homework to count for only 10 percent of a student’s grade. But that policy was quickly suspended after parents and teachers complained that they hadn’t been consulted. So the district held a series of community meetings over the past several weeks, in an effort to get parents more involved in the decision-making process.

Reaching consensus continues to be difficult. There are many parents – especially those with kids in advanced classes – who complain that the amount of homework students are forced to do is an untenable nightmare. Other parents, however, say it’s just fine.

The district’s new proposal would limit the impact of homework on a student’s grade to 20 percent. It would also set guidelines on how much time students should have to spend after school working on outside assignments, based on grade level. Kindergartners – yes, even they get homework – would be limited to a total of 10 minutes a day. For fifth graders, the limit would be 50 minutes.

The recommendations were crafted by a 15-member committee of administrators, teachers and parents and will be brought to the Board on April 10th for a vote.

From the phones:

Anti-Homework

Elisa in East LA "I have four children, this whole week is Spring break and I am working for a volcano project and a family history project for my 9-year-old that's just one child. I am working the whole week around this project, me and my husband because we're busy. We want to do other things we want to take the time to be be creative with our kids and do things that are not mandated by the schools, and it's very hard, but I also have to teach her to do her work"

Sue in Irvine "I think homework is really out of hand. I see that kids have to make a decision many times between whether I want to get A's in school or whether I want to participate in a sport. Many kids pick between, well if I want to do my sport I'm going to have to get Bs in these classes or I'm going to have to abandon extracurricular stuff so I can get A's because homework will last anywhere between 3 and 5 hours… It becomes a joke I wonder whether they go to school just to get their homework graded."

Joel in Sherman Oaks "I was a teacher for two years, and I would never give my students homework, I think it's a bit inappropriate to intrude into their personal family lives and many occasions I found that the parents didn't know how to help the students throughout the work so it was a problem at home. Most of my students did perfectly fine without the homework, but in general I think LAUSD should leave it to the teacher to make the decision on a teacher-to-teacher basis"

Jervey in Alta Dena I would say that when homework interferes with children becoming passionate readers, that they have free time to figure out what they want to read, like my daughter is passionate about reading the Hunger Games, her school they don't do that, but it just seems like such a problem. At the college level the difference between the kids who are avid readers and the ones that just study for the SAT and the AP, it's alway apparent.

Pro-Homework

Nicole in Pasadena I teach at one of the lowest performing schools in LAUSD and find that the problem is that my students who are extremely intelligent, but don't have the academic skills don't have enough homework. I find myself fighting a battle where i am the only teacher assigning homework, reading, writing, thinking and my colleagues don't, so the students don't develop any good habits in terms of going home and extending their learning.

Sam, a parent in Glendale "I have to say with more and more dual parent families out there and parents working longer and longer hours, we get further and further away from being in touch with how our kids are doing in school and to me doing homework with my kids in the evening helps me gauge where they are in terms of their learning, what things we have to work on at home and what things I can talk to the teacher about afterwards. So I kind of feel like we're taking away a big part of family time when we don't do homework with our kids in the evening."

Amanda in Tustin. I am a college student, and I can't speak to elementary school, it's been too long, but I have found that in my high school, homework load did not prepare me for the time management issues that I am facing in college. I've been in college enough to get a hold of it now, but I found that it was such a big jump that my first year of college was anxiety and procrastination and not understanding how to manage it.

Do the new recommendations strike a better balance for students, parents and teachers? Who should decide how much homework kids get – district officials or individual teachers? Is homework a necessary evil or something that should be abolished altogether? How does homework affect your family?

About friends of castle heights

About castle heights.

Castle Heights Elementary School

school policies

A note from a parent or guardian must accompany every child on his/her return to school after an absence.  A child who has been ill for 5 days or more should report to the nurse's office for re-admittance upon arrival at school.

While these is no formal dress code/uniform policy, students must adhere to the following rules:

- Closed toe shoes and socks must be worn at all times

- Sandals not permitted

- Gang-like attire (i.e. baggy pants, lowered waistbands, inappropriate t-shirts), and expensive jewelry and/or dangling/hppp earrings are not permitted

- School Board policy allows for students to wear hats and/or dark glasses for ourdoor sun protection, but not in the classroom.

Read the LAUSD memorandum regarding safe storage of firearms.

A detailed LAUSD homework policy statement is available in the from office. Here is a relevant excerpt: While homework may be scheduled over an extended period of time that may include weekends and vacations, homework will be assigned for a minimum of four days a week (Monday through Thursday). The average time needed for completion of homework assignments per day varies according to grade level.

Kindergarten: 15 to 20 minutes

Grades 1 & 2: 20 to 35 minutes

Grades 3 & 4: 35 to 45 minutes

Grade 5: 50 to 60 minute

In addition, students are expected to read or be read to for a minimum of 15 minutes daily.

Inappropriate school items

As detailed in the Standards of Conduct, the following items are inappropriate for school: gum, candy, soda, toys, trading cards, radios, game boys, etc. Also students are not allowed to use cell phones during the school day.

Makeup assignments

Students with excused absences must be given the opportunity to complete the missed classroom work, homework or test with other equivalent assignments and must be given credit equal to that would have received on the original assignment or test for the same quality of work.

misbehavior ​

As detailed in the Standards of Conduct, consequences for misbehavior vary with the severity of the action. When a verbal warning is not sufficient, students may be given a time out, asked to write letters to parents, sent to office,m and/or have parents contacted immediately. Severe infractions, such as fighting, destroying property or possession of illegal items, will result in administrative intervention.

morning Bells

The morning bell rings at 8:10 am. The second bell rings as 8:15 am signaling the start of the school instruction.  Parents may access the yards before and after the instructional day, but may not be on campus after 8:15 am unless they have signed in as a visitor or volunteer at the front desk. ​

rainy day drop off procedures

In the event of rain, drop off is organized in front of school with students entering the Auditorium to wait with their class for their teacher.  Parents are not permitted into the Auditorium.   Kiss and Drop is available rain or shine.

While parents  ​are always welcome to visit classrooms and participate in special events, we must request that all visitors check-in/out upon arrival/leaving and must wear a Visitor's Badge. Visitors MUST also check in with the office BEFORE visiting a classroom, as the teacher must be notified of the visitation.

school hours

Regular Hours ​:

TK - Grades 5: 8:15 am - 2:38 pm

All students should be on campus by 8:10 am so they are in class ready to begin by 8:15 am.

Early Dismissal:

Students will be dismissed at 1:38 pm every Tuesday so that teachers can participate in professional development training.

School Office:

The school office is open from 7:30 am to 4:00 pm.

Release During School Hours:

No child will be released to leave the school before dismissal time unless the parent or person authorized to care for the child signs a release form. The authorized person must be over the age of 17, identified on the child's emergency card and must pick up the child in person.

standards of conduct

All students at Castle Heights are expected to accept the guidance of all teachers, aides, and other adults; come to school prepared to learn, stay on task and will complete assignments; respect themselves and others; and maintain a safe environment on the playground; and keep our school clean and beautiful.

Thursday folders

This the the primary source of communication between the school administration, parent groups and the parents. The folder will come home in your child's backpack on Thursday and should be returned each Friday.

Bell schedule

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LAUSD banned charter schools from many of its campuses. Now charters will fight it in court

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A battle over the rights of charters to use Los Angeles Unified school campuses has moved to the courts with the filing of a lawsuit Tuesday targeting a recently approved district policy.

The California Charter Schools Assn. alleges that L.A. Unified acted illegally when the Board of Education recently voted to restrict where charters could locate as well as the classrooms they could use.

“Despite offering to work collaboratively with the board on a new policy that would improve the process of sharing campuses, LAUSD disregarded the voices and needs of charter school families and adopted a new policy to harm their schools,” said Myrna Castrejón, president and chief executive of the charter association. “The lawsuit comprehensively explains to the court how the policy is in direct violation of state law and should be invalidated.”

L.A. Unified School District officials had no immediate comment on the lawsuit, but have maintained that their revised charter school policy is legal. Board of Education members have said that, all along, they asked senior administrators to craft a policy that would comply with laws governing charter schools. Policy supporters also said that charters would continue to receive reasonable offers of campus space.

Sweeping new LAUSD policy to restrict charter school locations; advocates threaten to sue

L.A. school officials say policy limiting campus sharing with charters protects key programs from being undermined. Charters say rules are unfair, illegal.

Feb. 14, 2024

The policy, passed by a 4-3 vote , prohibits the new location of charters at campuses with special space needs or programs. One early staff estimate put the number of affected campuses close to 350, but there’s uncertainty over how the policy will be interpreted. The school system has about 850 campuses.

Charter advocates are concerned that charters could be pushed out of areas where they currently operate, making it difficult for them to remain viable. Another fear is that more charter schools will split up between campuses, making them harder and more expensive to operate — and less convenient for parents.

Under the policy, district-operated campuses are exempt from new space-sharing arrangements when a school has a designated program to help Black students or when a school is among the most “fragile” because of low student achievement. Also exempt would be community schools, which incorporate services for health, counseling and other needs of students and their families. The state also has designated some local charters as community schools, which the district policy does not account for.

Members of the school board majority said the new rules would protect needed space beyond the normal allotments for classrooms, counselors, health staff and administrators — for example, rooms for tutoring, enrichment or parent centers. Such spaces had frequently been tabulated as unused or underutilized — and then made available to charters.

Board President Jackie Goldberg has repeatedly minimized the impact the new policy will have on charter schools that already have sharing arrangements.

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Powerful unions and Proposition 28 author Austin Beutner say school districts are misusing money for expanding K-12 arts education and call for state intervention.

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The new rules also discourage placing charters where they could disrupt traditional feeder-school patterns. Goldberg cited the example of a charter middle school on a district-run elementary campus. The charter school, she suggested, would have an unfair advantage in recruiting those elementary students, undermining the local, district-run middle school.

Access to public school campuses for charter schools is guaranteed under state law, and the lawsuit asserts that the new policy is illegal.

The state laws “are premised on the fact that public school facilities are paid for by taxpayers, so school districts hold them in trust for the use of public school students,” the lawsuit states. “The concept is that if students did not enroll in charter public schools they would attend district-run schools, so school districts should have already planned to have seats for them.”

Although operated privately, charters are free public schools that, in California, are supposed to be operated by a nonprofit organization. Most charters are nonunion.

Finding a place to operate — especially in the expensive real estate market of L.A. — always has been a challenge for charters, a factor that led advocates to push successfully for the legal right to claim public school space at an affordable rent.

Under state law, students at charters are entitled to “reasonably equivalent” learning conditions compared to those at district-operated schools.

The new policy is flawed, the lawsuit argues, because it presumes charters are entitled only to “leftovers,” space that the district has no need for after making use of whatever other rooms and areas a school or program would want.

In the current school year, 52 independent charters operate on 50 campuses, according to L.A. Unified. This year 45 charters are seeking space, per the charter association, down significantly from a peak of more than 100. But even 50 schools would make for one of the larger school systems in California.

In all, there are 221 district-authorized charters and 25 other local charters approved by the county or state, serving about 118,000 students, or 1 in 5 public school students within the boundaries of L.A. Unified. Most charters operate in their own or leased private buildings.

The L.A. school system has more charters than any other district in the nation. Most were approved under charter-friendly school boards and under state laws — since changed — that made it difficult for school districts to reject charters.

The resolution that led to the new regulations — and which passed narrowly — was co-authored by Goldberg, who is not running for reelection in November, and Rocio Rivas, who is not yet up for reelection. The policy also was supported by George McKenna, who is not running for another term, and Scott Schmerelson, who faces a strong challenger.

As a result, shifting political dynamics could affect the charter policy as well as legal challenges.

The school board passed the charter policy Feb. 13, but the charter association forced a do-over vote on March 16 because McKenna, 83, who was recovering from surgery, had not properly signed into the earlier meeting from his home.

On March 16. McKenna could have voted from home but decided to attend in person, moving slowly, his surgically repaired shoulder in a sling.

Charter advocates used the occasion to plead their case once more, but the resulting vote was unchanged.

More to Read

Critical race theory ban at Temecula Valley Unified stands for now, judge rules

Feb. 23, 2024

Editorial: L.A. Unified’s new restrictions on charter schools go too far

Feb. 18, 2024

As LAUSD enrollment plunges, only one school is overcrowded. Proposed fixes panic parents

Jan. 30, 2024

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Howard Blume covers education for the Los Angeles Times. He’s won the top investigative reporting prize from the L.A. Press Club and print Journalist of the Year from the L.A. Society of Professional Journalists chapter. He recently retired “Deadline L.A.,” a past honoree for best public-affairs radio program, which he produced and co-hosted on KPFK-FM (90.7) for 15 years. He teaches tap dancing and has two superior daughters.

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