JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – If you remember waking up for school feeling tired, a new Florida house bill hopes to address that.
HB 733, passed in 2023, requires school districts to start no earlier than 8 a.m. for middle schools and 8:30 a.m. for high schools.
The goal is to help students get more sleep and reduce sleep deprivation. Florida school districts must change start times by the 2026-2027 academic school year.
Duval County Schools sent a survey with four proposed schedules that align with state requirements this week. In two scenarios, high school students would start at 10:30 a.m. and finish at 5:15 p.m.
Several parents from Stockton Elementary expressed concerns about the options presented by the district.
“I think that looking at all the options they have right now, I don’t think any of them really work for our schedule, like the current schedule that we have,” said Jamie Spicer, a parent of fifth graders at Stockton Elementary.
Spicer believes the idea of the bill makes sense but is concerned about other factors.
“You have a schedule that’s hard for working parents and for other siblings that may be at other schools to coordinate. That’s a long day for the parents and for the children,” Spicer said.
Lauren Agresti, a parent with children in multiple school levels, has reviewed the survey and prefers the current schedule.
“The option at the end there, where it says that if you prefer the current schedule, that’s what I ultimately would say is the best,” Agresti said.
One scenario suggests elementary students start school over an hour earlier than they currently do. Laura Garcia, another Stockton Elementary parent, finds this too early.
“I personally walk my daughter to school. I just don’t see that as a viable option anymore,” Garcia said, noting it takes away a key benefit of attending a neighborhood school.
Agresti said that while the data on sleep benefits is not new, more funding is needed for additional buses.
“If they were able to provide additional funding for additional bussing, so we didn’t have to have a staggered schedule, that would be ideal,” she said.
Garcia experienced a late-start schedule firsthand in high school.
“I played competitive sports, and we weren’t getting home till 11:30, midnight,” she said. Garcia pointed out that students' lives involve more than just school, and parents still need to work. “I’m not sure that the law is going to guarantee that students are actually going to get more sleep in the end,” she added.
The Florida state legislature is considering HB 261 this year, which would remove specific start time requirements but require districts to consider the benefits of later start times.
Spicer and Agresti are urging more parental involvement and encouraging others to contact elected officials.
“Please reach out to our school board representative and to our legislative representative,” Agresti said. “We need to push back and say that while this is a good idea, it’s well-intentioned. We don’t have the funding to make this practical for parents.”
“As a Stockton family, we’ve all had to do that in the past, and we’ve learned that speaking up and having a voice in these things really makes a difference,” Spicer said. “Do the survey, talk to your school board members, and see what we can do to come up with a better solution that works for the children.”
The survey with proposals for new school start times is available on the DCPS website until Feb. 14.