School Start Times, SB 296/HB 261

Text of the Bill and a Brief Summary

  • SB 296 (full text)/HB 261 (full text) repeals an unfunded mandate that would set school start times statewide. 

What’s Next

SB 296

SB 296 has its first committee stop in the PreK-12 Education Committee.

HB 261

HB 261 has its first committee stop in the Education Administration Subcommittee

Vote History

SB 296

N/A

HB 261

N/A

Talking Points

  • Decisions such as when schools start are best made at the local level. By repealing statewide mandated school start times, this bill helps to restore local control.
  • School districts will incur hundreds of millions of dollars in costs in order to comply with the unfunded mandate to change school start times.
  • Already, Florida is ranked #50 in the nation for average teacher pay. If this unfunded mandate is not repealed, school districts will be forced to spend money on bussing that would better be spent on increasing teacher salaries to help address the teacher shortage.

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