23-05-2025
DeSantis signs bill to repeal mandating later school start times
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) — For those out there who thought they were going to catch up on sleep with later school start times, guess again.
In a rare reversal, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation repealing later school start times for middle school and high school students.
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'It's a lot for the legislature to admit that maybe they made a mistake,' said State Sen. Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton. 'Just let the local school board decide what is best for their children.'In 2023, the governor signed a law to push back school start times. Backed by research, lawmakers said that middle and high school students were not getting enough sleep, but after school districts realized the impacts, the negative feedback was 'overwhelming.'
'We talked about the shortage with the bus drivers, and we talked about how much this was going to cost our school districts, and unfortunately, it fell on deaf ears,' State Rep. Bracey Davis, D-Ocoee.
Lawmakers repealed that bill, which was just enacted last year. House Bill 733 required middle school classes to start their day after 8:00 a.m., and high school classes to start after 8:30 a.m.
The 2023 law gave schools three years to develop plans to implement these changes. However, State Senator Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, who once supported the bill, looked to repeal its passage, town halls were held. School officials and parents weren't up for 'sleeping in' citing financial and logistical concerns.
'Kids are just going to stay up later,' mother Norma Tutt said. 'If they are staying up later now and getting less sleep, pushing it ahead isn't going to do anything but give them more time to stay awake.'
After the negative feedback from school districts, lawmakers knew they made a mistake, but not every leader was on board with the repeal.
'Kids, Uncle J thinks you should be able to start school later, but all these adults are saying no,' said State Sen. Jason Pizzo, I-Sunny Isles Beach. 'I just want you to know that Uncle J thinks that you should be able to go to school later.''The science does prove that Uncle J (Senator Pizzo) is right, but 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,' Burgess said.
With Senate Bill 296, school districts now have the option of submitting a detailed report to the state breaking down why they cannot make the later school start times work.
In Tampa Bay, most high school start times are around 7:10 a.m. with middle schoolers ranging from 7:15 a.m. to 9:35 a.m.
Now that the governor signed the repeal into law, school districts will have the option to opt in on the later start times or opt out.
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