Only about 10% of high schools in the U.S. start as early as those in Central Florida.
And for good reason: a study shows that making teens catch buses as early as 5:30 a.m. and start classes at 7:15 a.m. is bad for learning.
It’s not about letting teens sleep in or stay up late if they want to. It has to do with recognizing science.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Sleep Foundation, and others say that kids’ hormone-filled brains keep working late at night and are slow to get going in the morning.
Teenagers are different from the rest of us, plain and simple… Anyone who has ever kept one of these moody animals can tell you that.
Research shows that starting school later leads to better grades, fewer days missed, and fewer car accidents, all of which are good things that everyone should want.
That’s why I’m happy that politicians in Tallahassee recently voted to make it so that no public high school in Florida can start before 8:30 a.m. and no middle school can start before 8.
In a state where officials spend too much time on divisive culture wars, GOP lawmakers were the first to push for something that has been shown to help students learn.
But they need to get the job done now. Before this law is supposed to go into action in 2026, lawmakers will need to find the money to make it happen.
Since you can’t just make something happen by wishing for it.
Because they don’t have enough cars or drivers, local school districts don’t start school when they know they should. So they double and triple up lines. A high school route might start at 6:15, an elementary school route at 7:30, and a middle school route at 8:45, all with the same driver and bus.
So, Sen. Geraldine Thompson, a Democrat from Orlando, voted against making high schools start later because she thought it would be an unfunded demand.
Thompson said that school officials in Orange County made it clear to her that they would need to buy more cars and hire more drivers.
She is correct. That is simple math. But I think the study of how to learn most effectively should win out. You start with what you know should happen to get the best results and go from there.
And the people in charge of the schools know that the way things are done now is bad for learning. They’ve accepted it, talked about it, done research on it, and then done nothing for years. Time to do something.
Most of the lawmakers agree. HB 733, which changed when high schools start, was supported by both Democrats and Republicans. It passed the Senate 38-2 and the House 92-20.
Sen. Victor Torres was one of the Democrats who supported the bill along with the Republicans. Torres knows more about the problem than most people do. After being a cop in New York for many years, he drove a school bus for 10 years in Florida. He remembers taking up high school students at 5 o’clock who looked like zombies and said, “They just took their seats and fell asleep.”
Thompson and Torres both worry about money, and Torres points out that many people don’t understand that there aren’t enough drivers, who must be licensed and pass background checks. He said, “We need more buses, and the drivers need to be paid.”
Paul Renner, who is the Speaker of the House, pushed for later start times. He only got half of this right. He said that the problem was “critical to children’s learning and mental health.” That is correct.
But Renner also said that his bill was “a way to improve both academic scores and mental health that costs nothing.” That is not true at all.
If buses and drivers are currently running multiple routes, which they can do with staggered start times, districts will have to buy more buses and hire more drivers if the times cross.
Also, let’s make it clear that the money is there. Florida has been getting a lot of tax money lately, so politicians are coming up with pet projects to spend it.
Still, lawmakers continue to spend less per student than the vast majority of states and treat public education like an embarrassing afterthought.
If lawmakers can find $100 million for a state militia, they can definitely find money to back their otherwise sensible plan to help kids learn in the best way possible.
When school officials in Seattle listened to health experts and changed start times from 7:50 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. a few years ago, they saw results right away. Students got better grades and had fewer absences and tardies.
Students in Florida deserve nothing less, especially when the money is there to make it happen.
