Respondent also issued grading policies for the summer reading program. The middle school policy required 7 th and 8 th grade students to hand in their writing assignments by Friday of the first week of school. For each two weeks the assignment was overdue an additional 10 point deduction would be taken, up to a maximum deduction of 40 points. The summer assignments were distributed to students in June 1998. Eventually, petitioners were directed to address their objections to respondent.
Petitioners contend that respondent's summer reading program is both illegal and ill-conceived.
They assert that respondent has failed to provide or otherwise make available a sufficient number of books. Finally, petitioners allege that their oldest daughter, who qualified for English 9 AD, was forced to withdraw from the class. They maintain that the late notice of the assignments, the unavailability of the books, and the conflict with summer plans already in place by June 1998, prevented her from being able to complete the summer assignments by the first week of school. Respondent raises a number of procedural defenses. First, it alleges that the petition is untimely.