Florida Senate - 2025                              CS for SB 296
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Education Pre-K - 12; and Senators Bradley,
       Yarborough, and Davis
       
       
       
       
       581-02107-25                                           2025296c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to middle school and high school start
    3         times; amending s. 1001.42, F.S.; deleting a
    4         requirement that middle schools and high schools start
    5         by specified times beginning in a certain year;
    6         requiring district school boards to consider certain
    7         benefits relating to school start times when adopting
    8         middle school and high school start times; providing
    9         an effective date.
   10          
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. Paragraph (f) of subsection (4) of section
   14  1001.42, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   15         1001.42 Powers and duties of district school board.—The
   16  district school board, acting as a board, shall exercise all
   17  powers and perform all duties listed below:
   18         (4) ESTABLISHMENT, ORGANIZATION, AND OPERATION OF SCHOOLS.
   19  Adopt and provide for the execution of plans for the
   20  establishment, organization, and operation of the schools of the
   21  district, including, but not limited to, the following:
   22         (f) Opening and closing of schools; fixing uniform date;
   23  middle school and high school start times.—Adopt policies for
   24  the opening and closing of schools, fix uniform dates, and
   25  middle school and high school start times.
   26         1. The opening date for schools in the district may not be
   27  earlier than August 10 of each year.
   28         2. By July 1, 2026, the instructional day for middle
   29  schools may not begin earlier than 8 a.m. and the instructional
   30  day for high schools may not begin earlier than 8:30 a.m. Each
   31  district school board must inform its community, including
   32  parents, students, teachers, school administrators, athletic
   33  coaches, and other stakeholders, about the health, safety, and
   34  academic impacts of sleep deprivation on middle school and high
   35  school students and consider the benefits of a later school
   36  start time when adopting middle school and high and discuss
   37  local strategies to successfully implement the later school
   38  start times.
   39         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.