Educators worry about cost of later start for high schools

Florida’s public high schools must push back their start times to 8:30 a.m. by the 2026-27 school year, a welcome change for those convinced earlier bells lead to sleepy teenagers who struggle academically and do not always make it to their first class on time.

The new state law has science on its side, as numerous studies have shown students do better when high schools don’t begin as early as they do in Florida, where the average start time is 7:47 a.m. In Central Florida, public schools ring the first bell even earlier, typically at 7:20 a.m. and as early as 7:10 a.m. at many Osceola County schools.

But school district leaders worry a schedule overhaul could be costly or, without extra money, could mean opening elementary schools in the early time slot high schools now occupy. And that could mean young children waiting for buses or walking to school in the dark during some parts of the school year.

The legislation (HB 733), signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on May 12, also mandates that middle schools cannot start earlier than 8 a.m.

“I’m thankful we have to 2026 to figure this all out,” said Angie Gallo, a member of the Orange County School Board.

Gallo said the district’s first-period attendance data shows a later start likely could provide academic benefits to high school students. “I believe the research,” she said.

But she doubts there will be enough money for the additional school buses and bus drivers — assuming more could be found in the midst of an ongoing shortage — needed to start high schools later without starting elementary schools earlier.

And that swap of elementary and high school start times is an option OCPS parents said they disliked when the district surveyed them on the topic in 2019, with 67.5% saying they were strongly or somewhat opposed.

Currently, the state covers only about half the costs of bus transportation it mandates districts provide. Orange County Public Schools has a nearly $67.5 million transportation budget this year, for example, with about $33.6 million paid for with state transportation funds.

John Soriano, a counselor at Colonial High School in Orange, knows the debate will focus on money, but he thinks there should be no argument that a later start would be best for students.

“I don’t think it could do anything but improve academic performance and mental health,” Soriano said.

The change, however, may not be welcomed by all his colleagues, he admitted. Many like that the current high school schedule, which ends the day by 2:30 p.m., allows teachers time to work second jobs and gives students longer afternoons to take part in after-school activities or work part-time.

Attendance is worse since the pandemic, however, Soriano said, and lots of students arrive late, meaning they miss lessons. Many are sleepy when they show up on campus.

“Fatigue can definitely make negative mental health issues worse,” he said. “I think the hour is going to make a huge difference.”

Aidan Perna, 17, doesn’t think so. He just finished 11th grade at Leesburg High School in Lake County and said the 7:20 start works fine for him. He likes that the early start leaves him time after school for the weightlifting team, a nap and an after-school job.

“To be honest, I haven’t had a problem with it,” he said.

He often must get up at 6:10 a.m. to catch the school bus, but he said he still feels alert in his first-period class. “I’m tired, but I’m going to be tired either way,” he added, and an 8:30 a.m. start would make his afternoons more stressful.

Academic studies of later high school start times found they benefit students. Researchers in Minnesota and Washington, among others, determined that pushing back high schools start times to about 8:30 a.m. meant students slept more, had better grades, test scores and attendance rates and got into fewer morning car crashes.

“The science is very clear,” said Rep. John Temple, R-Wildwood, the bill’s sponsor, as it was discussed in a legislative committee this spring.

The bill passed easily but some parents and educators spoke against it, worried about costs and the fallout for elementary schools.

Angela Browning, a mother of three who lives in east Orange, was “so against” early high school start times when her sons were younger. She’d been active in the push to get Florida to mandate elementary school recess and figured start times would be her next effort.

She still thinks an 8:30 a.m. start for high schools would be “perfect,” but as she talked to parents and educators, and as her boys grew older, she also came to appreciate why some prefer that schedule or view it as the best option given the district’s financial constraints.

Her youngest just finished seventh grade and her twins just finished 10th grade at Timber Creek High School. The older boys have adjusted to the 7:20 a.m. start and like that they get out early in the afternoon, giving them time for marching band practice and homework, she said.

Plenty of parents think that schedule works for older students, Browning added, or think that if somebody has to start early, teenagers are the best choice. Ideally, she said, a later start time for high schoolers could be carried out without upending elementary school schedules.

“Sometimes doing the right thing is difficult,” Browning said. “The experts say this is what’s best for kids. My primary concern is going to be, is the state going to fund this?”

The Legislature earmarked $5 million for the coming year that the Florida Department of Education can use to survey districts about the costs of implementing the new law and to offer grants to districts that want to make the change before summer of 2026. The state sets a yearly budget so funding for the 2026-27 school year will not be approved until three years from now.

To keep bus transportation costs in check, most Central Florida school districts stagger start times, typically opening high schools first, then elementary schools and then middle schools. That is the most efficient way to use available school buses and drivers, as many can make “triple runs,” dropping students at a high school, then an elementary school and then a middle school.

The only way to keep costs the same and meet the law’s requirements is to start elementary schools in the earliest time slot, though “it’s unpalatable for many parents,” said Arby Creach, director of transportation for Osceola’s public schools.

If the district wanted to start elementary and middle schools both around 8 a.m. that would mean buying 150 more buses and hiring that many more drivers, he said. The cost for the buses alone would be about $22 million and finding the drivers would be challenging.

The Osceola school district, like counterparts across the state, wrestled with a driver shortage all year, Creach said, with 15 openings as the school year wound down. “It’s the people I can’t get,” he said.

Kristine Kraus, chair of the Seminole County School Board, said those school transportation challenges, and the worries about the impact on elementary schools, will be front and center as districts figure out how to comply with the new law in the coming years.

“I understand the reasoning,” she said. “I don’t know how the logistics will work.”