30-04-2025
Florida Set To Change School Start Times
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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Florida lawmakers have unanimously voted to undo a statewide mandate requiring later start times for middle and high schools - less than a year after approving it.
The bill, passed in both the House and Senate without opposition, would give school districts the ability to keep earlier bell schedules if they determine that later times are unworkable.
Newsweek has contacted State Senators Clay Yarborough and Tracie Davis, who introduced the bill, as well as House sponsor Representative Anne Gerwig via email for comment.
Why It Matters
Local officials in counties such as Pinellas and Pasco raised red flags over the cost and operational strain of the original law. Pinellas County estimated it would need to spend nearly $3 million and hire dozens of new bus drivers. Pasco County leaders cited similar concerns.
Pinellas board member Lisa Cane said students have voiced concern over how later times could affect their jobs and extracurricular activities. Traffic congestion is another worry in the county.
File photo: students hangout between classes at Colonial H.S. in Orlando, Florida.
File photo: students hangout between classes at Colonial H.S. in Orlando, Florida.
Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP
What To Know
The 2023 law had required middle schools to start no earlier than 8 a.m. and high schools no earlier than 8:30 a.m., based on research into teen sleep patterns.
Districts were given three years to comply, however, implementation quickly ran into financial and logistical hurdles, particularly in large urban and small rural counties, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
Senate Bill 296 will allow school districts to avoid the requirement, by informing the state Department of Education why a shift in the start times would not work.
House sponsor Representative Anne Gerwig, a Republican from Wellington, said the original law had good intentions as it considered adolescent and teens normal sleep schedules, but that for some schools making the change could be difficult, so allowing them leeway was important.
"A lot of times we don't really realize everything that could happen," she said during the floor discussion.
A fiscal report on the bill explained that some of the barriers faced by schools under the ruling of the 2023 legislation included childcare and student supervision issues, after-school activities issues and transportation issues concerning the costs of adding bus routes and buses.
What People Are Saying
State Representative LaVon Bracy Davis, a Democrat from Orlando, speaking about the original legislation, said, as reported by the Tampa Bay Times: "When this bill came, so many of us yelled to the rooftops about the unintended consequences. Unfortunately it fell on deaf ears. So here we are repealing the bill."
State Senator Danny Burgess, a Zephyrhills Republican, during a committee debate on the bill last month: "Without more resources, without maybe even more time to figure out how we actually implement this in real time, with bus driver shortages and the like, we are possibly walking into a minefield that we shouldn't venture into," said "It was one heck of a pain in the butt that bill was. And so this makes me wonder what it was really all for."
What Happens Next
The bill is now headed to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for approval. With DeSantis expected to sign the new bill, Florida school districts will retain wider authority over start times.
