Senate committee supports repealing law mandating later school start times

The lawmaker behind a 2023 law requiring later school times that could get repealed this Session believes his original bill wasn’t a “fruitless exercise,” and supports efforts to overturn it.

Republican Sen. Danny Burgess sponsored the 2023 measure that requires middle schools to begin no earlier than 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. for high schools. The law gives school districts until July 1, 2026, to comply.

Burgess said Monday he had a “total love-hate relationship” with his bill and said he supports Sen. Jennifer Bradley’s proposal to give local districts control when they start.

Bradley said the law is forcing Superintendents to scramble across the state.

School districts need to buy more buses and hire bus drivers, which are hard to find, she said. She added that children as young as 6 years old could be stuck waiting outside for the bus in the dark at 6 a.m., and parents are worried about their adjusting their work schedules.

“A state mandate on school start times would present incredible challenges, financially and otherwise,” Bradley said as the Senate Committee on Education PreK-12 approved SB 296 with little debate Monday and a 6-1 vote.

Burgess said he “100% believed in the science, as we all do” about the importance of sleep for young people, but admitted his 2023 measure didn’t end up exactly how he wanted.

“What ultimately made me feel OK was that we had a three-year glide path,” the Zephyrhills Republican said at the meeting. “Because of that responsible approach, if it turned out that this would be a bridge too far, we could always pull back.”

Burgess argued his legislation “wasn’t just a fruitless exercise. I think it was responsible.”

As school districts began preparing to change their start times next year, some officials warned that the law is going to cause havoc on districts because of all the logistics of staggered bus times and challenges with elementary school start times, which weren’t included in the law.

“The transition is also difficult for parents’ work schedules. Many parents rely on older students to return from school first and supervise younger siblings,” said Bradley, a Fleming Island Republican. “These families would be forced to find and pay for child care. Later start times would also mean many parents in rural communities or those with longer commutes need to leave for work early.”

Bradley’s bill had support from several school districts, including Orange County Public Schools, which is the fourth-largest district in the state with more than 200,000 students.

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