Students at CHS for the 2017-2018 school year are in for an increased amount of time for personal activities after school due to the new homework policy. This new policy stretches not only to the high school but to all Camas public schools. Students at Camas High school should not see homework that exceeds 90 minutes per class per week, with the exception of any Pre-AP, AP, and any accelerated courses.
Teachers, as well as local parents, created a committee that first addressed this issue back in March of 2016. On June 12th of 2017, the school board put the policy in place starting with this year. Dr. Jeff Snell, superintendent of the Camas School District, says, “Ultimately, we want kids to love learning. We want homework to be a chance to deepen that love.”
Students at Camas High School have already seen a lowering amount of assigned homework. Sophomore Josh Meinhold has already seen a difference in workload since last year. Josh states, “I haven’t done more than 15 minutes of homework in a day.” This is exactly what the district was expecting with this new policy. Christopher Kling, another CHS student states, “I’ve noticed a decline in my workload.”
Many factors contributed to the decision to implement the policy including the variety of students’ types of learning. Some kids need different amounts of time to complete the same task. One can read chapters from a book in 20 minutes while another might take an hour.
Another possible issue that could arise from the policy is the students not getting enough practice with the class that assigns the allotted homework. If a student learns a new skill during a lesson and perfects it within the first problems of work there shouldn’t be a reason for slaving away at many more problems. The students who are struggling with a topic are the ones who need the extra practice, and that is when homework is needed.
There are some classes students say have not changed much at all. Junior Micah Harimoto states, “So far, not in Spanish, they arguably give more (5 pages today).”
Only time will tell if the homework policy will truly impact the time students spend outside of school on their class work.