The SAD 44 School Board Monday discussed the current district practice of not assigning regular, traditional homework to elementary and middle school students.

Directors also heard a report on a threat that closed school one day earlier this month, and a report on two days of school held at Sunday River Resort.

Homework policy

In response to a request at last month’s meeting from Bethel Director Mark Hutchins to explain the homework practice, Superintendent Mark Kenney said it takes into account the fact that “not every student has the support at home” to benefit from homework. Teachers, he said, need to consider the value of what they are asking students to do, and maximize the value of assignments they give. There are nightly reading assignments and reading logs, he said.

Kenney added that the board’s Policy Committee will craft a policy for homework, to formalize what has already become the practice. A policy will provide more consistency for teachers in designing their lessons.

Crescent Park Elementary School Principal Tanya Arsenault said the practice is based on research on the impact homework has on students.

“There are certain conditions that need to be met to have a positive effect,” she said. “You can’t control home life.”

She emphasized the nightly reading homework that Kenney had described. She added that students who would benefit from more at-home learning with involved parents, enrichment activities such as music and gifted-and-talented programs are available. The school also continues to require long-term assignments at some levels, such as science projects.

Bethel Director Scott Cole asked what changes occur to make homework more viable for students at the ninth-grade level.

Kenney said the students in high school have the maturity to take ownership of work after school and to do it independently.

Cole noted that schools are charged with providing “proper care and custody” of students, as well as an environment conducive to education. But, he said, the education part must unfortunately be subordinate to the care and custody responsibility.

“There is a benefit to homework,” he said.

Several directors who are also parents of current students provided their perspectives on school assignments.

Bryan Kendall of Woodstock said that while he understood the reasoning behind the homework practice, for parents who want to be more a part of their children’s schoolwork, the situation leaves them feeling that they are not as involved as they would like to be. Homework also helps students learn about meeting deadlines, he said.

Bethel Director Stephanie Cayer said that from her perspective as an elementary school parent, there is an opportunity for involvement through classwork that students bring home. She goes over the work, and seeing what might need more practice, uses it as a resource to be more involved by helping her child on it at home. She also said some teachers send home packets with optional educational activities.

Newry Director Amy Henley described the difficulty of juggling homework with family after-school and evening schedules. Kids may come home with a need for a break, she said, but waiting until evening for homework can leave them too tired to be productive. Instead, parents can take advantage of the time available after school to teach other life skills, she said.

Bethel Director Beth Weisberger praised the focus on making students good readers, while fellow Bethel Director Stephanie Herbeck suggested that describing the practice as “no homework” may be misleading, given that some portions of schoolwork do take place at home.

Threat, Sunday River school, board elections

In other business, Kenney updated the board on the school day missed Sept. 9 because of a threat made against district schools. Given the timing of the threat, he said, there was not enough time to investigate thoroughly enough for the administration and the Sheriff’s Department to feel comfortable holding classes. The circumstance, Kenney said, was that a student overheard a rumor about a threat and posted it on social media. The sheriff’s investigation ultimately concluded the threat was not credible. The origin could not be determined.

Kenney also reported on the previous two days of Telstar classes held at Sunday River Resort after a routine evacuation drill revealed the alarm system at Telstar did not work. He said the days classes were held in and around the South Ridge Lodge went smoothly. Afterward, he said, Sunday River President Dana Bullen suggested the school would be welcome to hold annual school/activity days at the resort. Kenney said with plenty of time to plan in advance, it could be a good setting to kick off each school year.

Kenney said district schools last week held successful lockdown drills.

The board also elected officials for this year. They are: chairman, Erin Cooley (Greenwood); vice chairman, Stephanie Herbeck; and vice president pro tempore, Amy Henley.

Directors next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 28 at 6:30 p.m. at the Telstar Library.