Florida legislation provides opportunity to keep school start times the same

Christian Peterson reporter@riverbendnews.org In 2023, Florida legislation passed a law requiring middle schools to start no earlier than 8 a.m. and high schools to start no earlier than 8:30 a.m. The law was a priority of the at the time Speaker of the House Paul Renner. He hoped to improve “academic scores and mental well- being” of students. The law was slated to take effect for the 2026-2027 school year. However, a new Senate bill passed this session is giving schools an out from the proposed change. The idea behind the bill was to allow students to sleep in and perform better. However, after the original bill was passed, feedback from school districts across Florida began makin