As these final weeks of school approach, students across Florida are powering through finals and lingering homework assignments while fantasizing about their plans for their summer vacation.
So obviously the last thing anyone wants to think about is when you go back to school, right?
However, Florida students will soon get to sleep in a little bit later after lawmakers in 2023 approved later school start times. Will these requirements begin this upcoming school year?
Are later start times coming to Florida schools this year?
Not yet! The later start times will be required by the 2026-2027 school year, according to legislation signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis back in May 2023.
DeSantis’s law would require a later start time for middle and high schools throughout Florida. The law gave school districts three years to develop plans to implement the changes to the earlier times.
The law prevents middle schools from beginning the “instructional day” earlier than 8 a.m., while high schools will be barred from starting the school day before 8:30 a.m.
Read HB733 in its entirety before 2026
Could later school times in Florida be reversed?
Florida senators last month started moving forward with a bill to repeal requirements aimed at later daily start times in many high schools, citing districts claiming they are struggling to comply as deadline approached.
Bill sponsor Jennifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island, said the 2023 law was “very well-intentioned and it sought to ensure that our high-school students were well-rested.”
“To date, school districts across the state have begun their analysis of the impact of these required start times for the 2026 school year, and the feedback is overwhelming: A state mandate on school start times would present incredible challenges, financially and otherwise,” Bradley said before the Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee voted 5-1 to approve the bill (SB 296).
As of March 27, the bill has been sent to the Florida House of Representatives for consideration.
When is the earliest date Florida schools can start for the year?
HB733 stated the opening day of schools may not be any earlier than Sunday, Aug. 10.
When does school start in Florida for the 2025-2026 school year?
While some schedules are still being finalized, almost every Florida school is proposed to start the 2025-2026 school year on the first possible date — Monday, Aug. 11 — after Aug. 10.
Here’s when most counties go back to school:
How many days of school are required in Florida?
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the minimum amount of instruction time for Florida students is 180 days.
That amount of time is typical across the country, although there are a few states requiring slightly fewer or more days.
Florida requires children in kindergarten through grade 3 to have instructional time of 720 hours. That time increases to 900 hours for students in grades 4 through 12, although school districts have the option to meet either minimum hours per school year or days per school year.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida schools later start times: When they will go into effect