GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP - Weekend homework could be history in the Galloway Township Public School District.

The Board of Education soon will consider changes to its homework policy based on recommendations from district officials. One recommendation is that homework should be assigned only Monday through Thursday - never over weekends or holiday breaks.

The idea has been discussed informally with teachers but never has been a part of the district's official standards, said Superintendent Annette Giaquinto, who developed the recommendations with Betty Napoli and Michael Hinman, supervisors of curriculum, instruction and assessment.

The three also have recommended that no more than 10 minutes of homework, multiplied by the child's grade level, be assigned per night. For a fifth-grade student, that would make 50 minutes of homework the maximum.

That standard has been used as a guideline in the district for a number of years but never has been made policy.

"When the three of us started on this, there was a rumor that we were abolishing homework. That is not the case," Giaquinto said. "We want to make sure the homework we are sending home is meaningful."