Final Vote on Homework at Tonight's BOE Meeting

returns to work for the first time since June tonight, Aug. 15, and a policy that has come under much scrutiny in recent months will be put to a final vote.

The board will vote on the amount of issued by teachers. The proposed policy would establish the amount of homework teachers assign per day, allowing students the weekend to focus or reading, studying and long-term projects.

For students in the elementary schools, 10 minutes would be allotted for each assignment based on grade level. Therefore, students in first grade would receive assignments that should take 10 minutes to complete, while those in third grade would see assignments that could take 30 minutes to finish.

These are suggested time limits, and teachers will not be penalized if students take more or less time to complete an assignment.

The policy came under scrutiny when it was introduced a few months ago, as there was a misconception that no homework would be assigned on weekends.

At the board’s last meeting, Superintendent Annette Giaquinto clarified the policy doesn’t state teachers can not assign homework for the weekend, but that it was up to the teacher’s discretion to do so.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the auditorium.

The board will also consider a resolution tonight for the allocation of into the 2012-13 budget.

In July, the state announced that each district in the state would receive additional state aid, on top of the aid allocated in February. Galloway Township will receive an additional $566,943, which it chose to allocate toward next year’s school budget.

Galloway's school budget was passed after council mandated more than $362,000 in cuts to a proposed $53 million budget with the provision that courtesy busing for the Arthur Rann Elementary School not be cut.

Parents of children who play middle school sports were hopeful those sports could be reinstated after a one-year hiatus. were the only middle school sports played this year, after the parents of those players raised the money to fund the teams.

The state’s new will also be discussed.

That law, , specifies that harm to students can be emotional, not just physical.

Harassment, intimidation or bullying includes incidents that foster a hostile environment at school, the legislation says, and administrators are subject to discipline if he or she fails to conduct an investigation of known bullying.

There are aspects of the law that aren’t currently part of Galloway’s code or policy, but at the time, Superintendent Annette Giaquinto said the policy falls in line with the school district’s “continuing fight against bullying.”