At Bandera ISD, the make up work policy for students is that they have as many days to complete the work and turn it in as they were absent. 

            With a majority of students leading extremely busy lives, this policy seems unreasonable.  On some nights, there is no homework, while on other nights, students are buried so deep in homework, there is no hope of getting out.

            Students go to all 8 periods every day.  This means that when they get home, there is a lot of homework expected, in addition to the make up work from the missed day.  Also, when a lot of students miss class, it’s due to some extra-curricular activity that goes on all day, and takes up most of their time, so there is no time during the day to finish.  At times, all of this can add up to hours and hours of work. 

            Understandably, all teachers seem to believe that the subject they teach is the most important.  They give so much homework and believe that their homework overrules every other homework. When the high school changed from a block schedule, only certain subjects were allowed to give homework on certain days, so as not to overwhelm the students. 

             We understand that teachers do have deadlines for grades, and it is easier to stay organized if they make everyone turn it in at the same time.  But, if students get too overloaded with work, their grades will begin to slip.

            However, if teachers would work together and construct their homework schedules together, a lot of students would be less stressed, which would help their grades improve.