Bill pushing back start times at middle and high schools being debated

Middle and high school students in California could soon be seeing later start times at their local schools if a bill passes the state legislature and is signed by Governor Jerry Brown.

Senate Bill 328 would require all middle and high schools across to have their start times be no later than 8:30 a.m. The bill author, State Senator Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge), said his bill was based on research conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

That research from the AAP suggested the 8:30 a.m. start time to combat sleep deprivation in teenagers. Their findings suggested that the natural sleep cycle for teens made it difficult for them to fall asleep before 11 p.m. and thus fell short of their recommended 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep if they had a first period that started at 7:30 a.m.

Senator Portantino cited the research along with results from other high schools that implemented a later start time which he said showed positive trends such as healthier students.

“The healthier kids go to school more, so attendance is up, graduation rate is up,” he said.

Groups such as the California School Boards Association (CSBA) opposed the bill. Troy Flint, public information officer with the CSBA, explained while the group did not oppose later start times, it opposed the state mandate in the bill saying power to determine changes should best be left to individual school districts.

“What we’re trying to protect with our opposition is to SB 328 is the ability of local school boards to determine what’s best for their communities if they decide to implement a later start time,” Flint said.

Flint also raised the aspect of hardships for families in having to adjust to the different times.

Senator Portantino acknowledged the concerns and said the bill would allow school districts to come up with a plan and work with their communities before they would have to make the changes to their start times.

“The overriding benefit to kids outweighs those logistical issues and having a two plus year implementation cycle gives communities to work that out,” he said.

In the Coachella Valley, a significant number of middle and high schools did not have a normal school start time at 8:30 a.m. or later. This was based on data looking at the bell schedules of every middle school and high school served by the three school districts in the Valley and excluded minimum days. Palm Springs Unified School District had no middle or high schools that had a normal start time of 8:30 a.m. or later. Desert Sands Unified School District only had one that met the criteria, Desert Ridge Academy. Coachella Valley Unified School District had three middle school that had later start times with all three starting at 9 a.m.

PSUSD and DSUSD both confirmed in email exchanges that their staff were monitoring the bill in Sacramento and still assessing how the bill would impact their operations. CVUSD did not respond back with any comment.

One parent of a Palm Springs High School student the change would be no problem for her and could benefit her daughter.

“My daughter likes it a little later because she likes to sleep a little longer because she has homework at night,” Rogelie Velasco said.

Another parent though felt it would be too much of a hassle conflicting with the start times of her elementary school kids and felt the extra sleep wouldn’t mean much.

“I don’t think an hour difference would be a big difference in sleep,” Jennie Jimenez said. “Get them to bed earlier.” The bill has already passed the State Senate and cleared the Assembly Education Committee in early July. The Assembly will take it up on a vote once the legislative recess is over. If the bill is signed into law, it would take effect July of 2020.