The Hernando County School Board has made its feelings known to state legislators about a recent change in statute that would force a dramatically later bell schedule starting in the 2026-27 school year.
Now, the board is informing the public in hopes parents will step up and rally against the statue as well.
Legislation proposing later school start times, HB 733, was signed into law by Gov. DeSantis in 2023.
At a workshop on Feb. 11, the board heard a presentation from Ralph Leath, the district’s director of transportation, about the potential impacts the 2023 law will have when it takes effect on July 1, 2026. It will require instructional days to begin no earlier than 8 a.m. for middle schools and 8:30 a.m. for high schools.
Currently, county high schools begin their day at 7:20 a.m., with the exception of Hernando High, which starts school at 7:15 a.m. Most county middle and K-8 schools start at 8:35 a.m. except for Parrott Middle School at 7:30 a.m.
Based on the new statute requirements, the district’s bell-time committee has come up with two options. One would have high schools starting at 8:35 a.m. (Hernando at 8:30 a.m.) and middle schools/K-8 at 9:40 a.m. (Parrott at 8 a.m.).
The other option would be high schools at 9:30 a.m. (Hernando at 9:15 a.m.) and middle schools/K-8 at 8 a.m. (Parrott at 9 a.m.). Either way, the statute would create a litany of logistical issues, such as how many parents with typical work schedules would have difficulty dropping off their children at later times. It would also cause headaches after school.
“Somewhere in Tallahassee and legislative and wherever, they think, ‘Oh, these (high school) kids need to sleep in.’ Well first off, I don’t know what world they’re living in because high schoolers at night are on their devices, they’re goofing off, they’re playing around,” HCSB Chairperson Shannon Rodriguez said. “It doesn’t matter that you give them more time to sleep, they’re not going to take advantage of it.
“And then secondly, when you do bring them in later in the morning and let them get out later, now they all have sports. So now your sports go into way later. Your practice doesn’t even start until 4:30. It doesn’t make any sense because you’re losing time at night on sports. By the time they get home and they’re done, and then they do all their homework, then they take their showers. We’re back at the drawing board at the way it once was anyway. So they’re not getting any more sleep. So I think it’s crazy.”
Rodriguez added that high school students need to learn the responsibility of getting up and starting their day earlier in preparation for being part of the workforce.
“We’re setting them up for failure because come when they get out of high school, they’re going to have to get into the real world,” Rodriguez said. “And I feel like what we’re doing right now is going backwards and we’re trying to let them sleep in. We’re trying to give them time because they need their rest. It’s just to me ludicrous that we’re doing this for high schools.”
Board member Susan Duval noted that all extracurricular activities would be impacted beyond just athletics.
“There’s a lot of other activities going on at schools after the school hours,” Duval said. “And we haven’t even gotten to the point of how much this would cost us if we had to go by the state rule. We can’t afford it because the state does not fund transportation in a manner that is even close to being what any district needs to run a program.
“I believe as we get closer to 26-27, maybe parents and students are now becoming more aware of what is on the horizon and maybe now’s the time they start speaking out because the legislative year starts (March 1). So we don’t have a lot of time. If there’s going to be a change, this session is the one that needs to make the change, not the following year. By then, it’s too late.
“It is incumbent upon people to wake up now and get word to their legislative body members that represent this district or other districts and voice their opinion. I’m talking about parents. We’ve got 23,000 kids in our district. Parents of those 23,000 kids could make a strong voice.”
The board decided that in order to raise public awareness, the district will release the potential bell schedule options. Rodriguez said both she and Superintendent Ray Pinder have contacted state representatives to express their desire that the new start time requirements be repealed.
“I reached out to someone about all of this and they said there’s quite a bit of support from the legislators across the board because they’re hearing from their districts that they need help with the implementation,” Rodriguez said. “Definitely too early to stress. Most districts want the bills to go through. The bills would repeal the late start times mandate and the bills would make sure that we would be able to have the control of our times.
“So I’m leaning towards I don’t think it’s going to go through. It’s just a hunch, no one knows. We don’t have a crystal ball. But I don’t think it’s going to go just because the Florida School Board Association and everybody has reached out, all of the districts, and nobody wants to be controlled to this degree. So I really think we’re not going to have to worry about it.”
Se. Jenifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island, filed SB 296, which challenges the later bell time statute approved in 2023.
Also, at the Feb. 11 workshop, the board decided to move forward with a raise in pay for substitute teachers to $15 per hour, which puts the district ahead of that becoming the mandated minimum wage in two years.
