Florida Senate - 2025                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 296
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì5123943Î512394                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  03/03/2025           .                                
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       The Committee on Education Pre-K - 12 (Bradley) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Paragraph (f) of subsection (4) of section
    6  1001.42, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
    7         1001.42 Powers and duties of district school board.—The
    8  district school board, acting as a board, shall exercise all
    9  powers and perform all duties listed below:
   10         (4) ESTABLISHMENT, ORGANIZATION, AND OPERATION OF SCHOOLS.
   11  Adopt and provide for the execution of plans for the
   12  establishment, organization, and operation of the schools of the
   13  district, including, but not limited to, the following:
   14         (f) Opening and closing of schools; fixing uniform date;
   15  middle school and high school start times.—Adopt policies for
   16  the opening and closing of schools, fix uniform dates, and
   17  middle school and high school start times.
   18         1. The opening date for schools in the district may not be
   19  earlier than August 10 of each year.
   20         2. By July 1, 2026, the instructional day for middle
   21  schools may not begin earlier than 8 a.m. and the instructional
   22  day for high schools may not begin earlier than 8:30 a.m. Each
   23  district school board must inform its community, including
   24  parents, students, teachers, school administrators, athletic
   25  coaches, and other stakeholders, about the health, safety, and
   26  academic impacts of sleep deprivation on middle school and high
   27  school students and consider the benefits of a later school
   28  start time when adopting middle school and high and discuss
   29  local strategies to successfully implement the later school
   30  start times.
   31         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.
   32  
   33  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   34  And the title is amended as follows:
   35         Delete everything before the enacting clause
   36  and insert:
   37                        A bill to be entitled                      
   38         An act relating to middle school and high school start
   39         times; amending s. 1001.42, F.S.; deleting a
   40         requirement that middle schools and high schools start
   41         by specified times beginning in a certain year;
   42         requiring district school boards to consider certain
   43         benefits relating to school start times when adopting
   44         middle school and high school start times; providing
   45         an effective date.