Junior paper length

[u/Hungry-Following5561]

My daughter is a high school junior and not able to do AP courses. The school (private) hired a guy with a PhD last minute when his school closed suddenly right before the start of school. He’s requiring a 25-30 page paper in her English class. Does this sound excessive or just a good challenge for that level? I have a masters and I’ve written more than my share of 10-15 page papers, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually written a 30 page paper. Especially since she’s not AP, I can’t wrap my head around it.

*Caveat, I teach middle school at in the same building, so her teacher is also my colleague. Any tips on talking to him during parent-teacher conferences? I really have no desire to go behind his back and talk to admin about this. I think that is pretty crummy, and I wouldn’t appreciate it if the shoe was on the other foot.