It’s thanks to Los Altos High School’s no-homework weekend policy that on eight dedicated breaks throughout the year, students get to relax during their time off. Recently, the policy has prompted debate over its implementation among both teachers and students.

The no-homework weekend policy was created to ensure breaks were truly functioning as time off, rather than extended coursework. However, the actual execution of the policy is disputed among the student body.

“The policy was intended to make sure we respected students’ three-day weekends,” Assistant Principal Fabian Morales said. “The belief before was that [three-day weekends were] an opportunity for students to get caught up or to give them extra work because they were so academically inclined.”

Outlined in the LAHS Student Handbook, the policy ensures that students have no necessary schoolwork to complete during these weekends, and no tests are scheduled for the day directly after break. Essentially, homework that would normally be due on the Monday following a no-homework weekend is postponed.

This differs from LAHS’s regular weekend homework policy, which only limits Friday assignments due on Monday to the average daily workload assigned on other weekdays.

AP courses may still assign additional work over Spring Break to prepare students for upcoming exams. Additional no-homework weekends may also fall on other weekends, depending on the calendar and administrative decisions.

The no-homework weekend policy was first introduced in 2016, when the Mountain View-Los Altos District Board discussed the purpose of and time students spent on homework. Representatives from both schools, including Math teacher Betty Yamasaki, came together to create a no-homework weekend policy, which remains today.

Yamasaki said that due to California curriculum requirements, no-homework weekends make it difficult for some teachers to keep up with their teaching timelines.

“Math should be practiced daily to be proficient,” Yamasaki said. “Math courses are built where the topics are vertically aligned. We cover the necessary concepts so when students move on, they have those foundations.”

AP Calculus teacher Adam Anderson agreed, saying that the no-homework weekend policy creates more stress for students by shifting work to after the weekend. He said it would be near impossible to cover his entire curriculum by May for the AP test without doubling up on homework at a later point if he followed the policy.

“I don’t believe in no-homework weekends,” Anderson said. “Wellness is very important, but [the no homework weekend policy] is a net negative.”

For many students, however, the policy serves as a break after weeks of nonstop coursework.

“It’s nice for me to relax and come back from all the stress I had prior to it,” senior Michael Angelo said.

However, some students said the policy is not always followed, especially in AP classes.

“Certain classes are more demanding in terms of work,” senior Payton Jones said. “Sometimes they don’t explicitly not follow the policy, but assign a hefty assignment due Monday and suggest we get ahead over the weekend.”

Earlier this year, consecutive Homecoming and end-of-quarter no-homework weekends led to issues with the policy. According to students, some teachers assigned homework and administered tests the following Monday after the weekend, despite the intended break. One example of this was an AP Calculus AB test held the Monday after Homecoming weekend.

Administrators emphasized that communication from students is essential if situations like these prove to be issues.

“If students feel like a homework policy isn’t being followed, the first step is to clarify with the teacher,” Principal Tracey Runeare said. “If there is a disagreement, [administration] can get involved.”