TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Legislature passed a bill that will allow school districts to get around 2023 requirements for later start times for public charter, middle and high schools this week, sending the bill to Gov. Ron DeSantis for his signature.
Lawmakers in 2023 passed a law that would require middle schools to start no earlier than 8 a.m. and high schools to start no earlier than 8:30 a.m. Those new school start times were supposed to begin on July 1, 2026.
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The bill was backed by research showing older students weren’t getting enough sleep.
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But lawmakers said many school districts found adapting to the new times would be challenging, logistically and financially, so bills were filed to repeal the 2023 law.
“Larger districts, and even some rural districts have been unable to comply due to local circumstances,” said State Rep. Anne Gerwig, R-Wellington, a sponsor of one of the bills.
In the end, instead of a full repeal, lawmakers passed SB 296 on Tuesday. The bill gives school districts and charter schools the ability to be in compliance with state law as long as they submit a report to the state by June 1, 2026.
The report has to include:
- Start times for elementary, middle, and high schools in the district
- Documentation of strategies considered to implement the later start times
- Explaining the impact of implementing the later start times, including the financial impact
- Identifying any unintended consequences
Chris Doolin with the Small School District Council Consortium told lawmakers last month that 12 of the districts he represents have been able to implement the new start times, but 24 have not.
“It’s a very important bill because it identifies a glide path that allows the districts to go in and look at what they need to do to do this. This requires the school board to continue to do the healthy sleep deprivation educational programs,” Doolin said.
According to a legislative staff analysis, the average start time for Florida’s 541 high schools is 7:45 a.m., with 46% starting before 7:30 a.m.
The average start time for the state’s 490 middle schools was 9:03 a.m., with 8% starting before 8 a.m.
Should DeSantis sign the bill, it would go into effect July 1, 2025.