Daily Question: Should Middle School and High School Start Times Be Pushed Back?

Daily Question: Should Middle School and High School Start Times Be Pushed Back?

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed SB 328 by Senator Anthony Portantino (D– La Cañada Flintridge) which prevents high schools from starting before 8:30 am and middle schools before 8:00 am. This comes after Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a similar bill last year saying that start times should be decided at a local level.

Back in September, Portantino put out the following after the bill headed to the Governors desk for signature:

SB 328 requires high schools and middle schools in California to start later in the morning. It is based on three decades of research and hundreds of successful examples from schools across the country.  If signed by the Governor, California will be the first state in the country to make late school start time the law.  Studies have shown that attendance, test scores and graduation rates all go up when schools start later.   Additionally, depression, sports injuries and car accidents all decrease as a result of aligning school start time with student biology.  SB 328 was co-sponsored by the California PTA and Start School Later.

 “Senator Portantino has worked closely with the California PTA to put student health first in the conversation.  We are grateful for his dedication to the late school start initiative and for the opportunity to partner with him on this effort.    When teens get enough sleep, they are safer, healthier and do better in school.   The California State PTA is proud to co-sponsor this bill and looks forward to helping implement this historic initiative across our state,” added Carol Kocivar, California State PTA.