Florida Senate moves forward with repealing later school start time requirements
While acknowledging that teens need more sleep, Florida senators on Tuesday continued to work on a bill that would repeal requirements aimed at later daily start times in many high schools.
The Senate Pre-K-12 Education Appropriations Committee voted 8-1 to approve a measure (SB 296) filed by Seh. Jennifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island that would eliminate start-time requirements scheduled to take effect in 2026.
Lawmakers in 2023 approved the requirements, citing a need for older students to get more sleep.
But as the deadline has neared, many school districts have said they are struggling to comply because of issues such as buying buses and finding bus drivers.
Also, they say later start times affect after-school activities and child-care issues. Under the 2023 law, high schools could not start earlier than 8:30 a.m., and middle schools could not start earlier than 8 a.m., though the issue centers on high schools.
Senate Pre-K-12 Appropriations Chairman Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, cited research Tuesday about the benefits of teens getting more sleep with later start times. Still, he described the issue as a 'collision between research and resources.'
Burgess added, 'The research is there. I don't think it's refuted.' Sen. Don Gaetz, a Niceville Republican who is a former Okaloosa County superintendent of schools, cast the only dissenting vote Tuesday.
Rep. Anne Gerwig, R-Wellington, has filed a House version of the bill (HB 261). Saying students 'need to be able to sleep,' House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, told The News Service of Florida on Tuesday that he is unsure how he feels about the bill.
'We are going to have that debate within the House, but this is an issue that depends on which part of the state you are from,' Perez said. 'You'll have a difference of opinion. It depends on how old your children are.'
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