Most people here have serious commutes and there is almost no school bus service. Public transit that works with school is also sparse.

have time to eat in the school cafeteria.
I grew up poor and depended on things like school lunch and often missed the school breakfast because the bus often was late getting me to school so by the time I got there breakfast was over and the bell was ringing to get to class so maybe this can help other kids avoid going hungry.

Just playing devil's advocate..

That was shown by science, which is what motivated this legislation. My son can't fall asleep, no matter how hard he tries, until about 10:30 or 11 pm. Then he has to be up at 6. But teens need 9-10 hours sleep. Very few get that with our current school schedule.

After school, sports practice, and homework, I would go to bed at 8 or 830, as a teen, but had to get up by 5-530 to shower, eat, get ready, and walk almost a mile to the bus stop. In winter, my mother would drive me to it, but then she and to get ready for work, so couldn't stay. On Friday nights, I would eb asleep by 9 or 930, and sleep like a log until noon Saturday.

Most probably already go to bed plenty early. I would have killed to sleep in an hour longer.

The bus picked him up at 6:30 and classes started at 7:05.

He was always hoping they would change the timing, especially when he got into high school and stayed up later doing homework. I have heard they were discussing it for elementary students here, but have heard nothing about the older kids.

Class didn't start until 8am, but I had a seriously long bus ride. That was hell, and I quit riding the bus as soon as I got my license.

As the mother of a sleep-deprived high school freshman in Southern California, this is the best news I've heard all week!

Seems to have worked out ok.

Some start at 7:30 and lunch is before 11:00. It is ridiculous.

Wake up at 5. Eat lunch by 11. Eat dinner at 4. Go to bed at 8.

BTW: I'm almost on that schedule now because I have to drive 1.5 hours to teach my class that starts at 9. It was worse this summer when my class started at 8.

began at 7:30 and it sucked. Teachers had to be there at 7 AM. It was still dark out when we drove to school. We were all sleepy until 9:00 and not much learning was going on. I would ask the kids what their parents did after they were dropped off and they all said, "My mommy goes back to sleep". Needless to say I was jealous.

and have been doing so for a couple decades. I can’t comprehend complaining about a 7am start time, sorry.

Up at 5:20, lunch at 10:30, dinner between 6:30 and 8:00 depending on after school activities, homework until 11 or 12.

I'm rarely asleep before 1 am..

If the high schoolers start at 8:30 that means middle school will start at 9:30 or later, elementary school kids at 7:30 or a bit earlier.

If the middle school kids start at 8:30, then the high school kids start at 9:30 and get out of school at 5, meaning the buses (and high schoolers who drive themselves) are in rush hour traffic. They'd get home 5:30 to 6:00 pm. (That'll eat into their income, for sure. And encourage them stay up late when their parents go to bed early. And require that they get themselves off to school--both middle and high schoolers, for the most part.)

The alternative is rather brutal. Three sets of buses, with capital costs and upkeep. Three times as many bus drivers, but they're each half-time. It's bus costs that drive a lot of the timing. (That, and the fact that young kids are fine in the early morning, it's teens that have a biological push to stay up late to mate and then sleep in.)

If we make everybody start school after 8 a.m., then some kids'll be getting home close to 7 pm. Which would be in the dark for a decent part of the year.

This was first an issue in 1999 when I was on a local school board. The students, then, were the last consideration in the education equation. The convenience of drivers, parents, businesses, and suppliers kept start times as early as 7:15.

I thought it was ridiculous, among other things. I didn't last long in political office. But once the results from California start rolling in the rest of the nation will adopt similar policies.

Thanks, California.

That schools are a business, plain and simple. They always said in public, "We want what is best for the students" which was BS. We all knew about buying textbooks one year and two years later we were told to put them in the dumpster (they got a kickback). I could name hundreds of similar examples. Schools are concerned about the bottom line first. Students' well being was rarely a factor in their decisions.

No real reasons to support it and health reasons to oppose it.

I never have to go to public school again. Even 8:30 am is rough. I remember starting school at 8AM, and it was seldom that I got a full 8 hours of sleep. A few of the perks I enjoyed from being in college were that I can have my classes later in the day, I can be well-rested for each class, and they're only 1-2 times per week.

Just saying they could go to bed an hour earlier doesn't help. You try going to bed three hours before you are ready to sleep and see how much good it does you. Oh, and get up at least three hours before you're ready to wake up.

That was shown by science, which is what motivated this legislation. It is not about accommodating partying. It is about accommodating teens' biology. My son can't fall asleep, no matter how hard he tries, until about 10:30 or 11 pm. Then he has to be up at 6. But teens need 9-10 hours sleep. Very few get that with our current school schedule.

or seemingly know anything about what's going on.

Rock on, poster.

I had an early schedule, I described what a mess school was for me when I had early start times in junior high. There was no partying. My parents forced me to be in Boy Scouts, and the meetings lasted til 9:00 or later. They were in Boy Scout leadership, and had meetings many nights, and I had to baby sit the younger kids while they went, and those often lasted til after 9:00. Trust me, it was miserable to operate on too little sleep, and I did NO partying. I should have been in bed by 9:00 every night, and it rarely happened. I imagine a lot of kids have to operate in the same kind of environment I did.

A public Health issue? Can I sue them for this?
Just kidding, I turned out fine.. Still that extra half hour of sleep!!! Omg.

Kids will just stay up an hour later and still be tired in the morning.

But we'll see.

I agree. In the end, I had to set all of her internet electronics on a timer. And even then, she does what she does (she's nearly 16).

Elementary school hours are 7:30 – 2:25.

For the same reason CA is adopting later hours for high school.

start an hour to ninety minute later, meaning parents are busy running kids around until 7 or 8pm, further cutting into their own scheduling and sleeping requirements.

Not to mention school traffic being moved closer to peak traffic times. The whole idea is ridiculous.

At my son's high school, kids on high school sports teams have that as their PE period, which is scheduled as their last class of the day, so they do not get out later than other kids.

For those on club sports teams outside of school, like soccer, those practices usually start later, like 6 or 7pm, so you still have plenty of time to get your kid to that. My 14 year old's soccer club team practices 7:30 -9pm.

Right now his high school lets out at 2:37pm. If everthing was moved back an hour, that means it would let out at 3:37pm. That is not ridiculous.

Do you live in CA? If so, when does your high school let out?

That’s with a 7:25 start.

It’s a charter school, so I’m not sure how the new rule would apply to her schedule.

Her roller derby practice time from 5 to 7:30. Moved an hour back it would become very difficult, as I wake up at three and her mom starts work at 8pm.

The whole issue seems a bit silly. I went through school without feeling tired in the morning, as did my parents. I don’t recall kids sleeping in class, so it comes across to me like a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. Set a bedtime and enforce it.

Have clubs and normal "after school" activities meet the first hour of the day, push serving healthy breakfast and hold study hall, optional group exercise and allow teacher meetings and extra tutoring from 8-9, but the kids aren't late until their first class starts.

I had caught the bus about 6:45, first on, and it was a long route. School started about 7:30, first lunch period began at 10:45. We got out early, but in the evening my bus stop was LAST and our bus was late, so I barely beat the younger and older kids home who got to start later. Many of the activities my family did went on til 9:00 or later many school nights, so it was often 10:00 before I even laid down at night. I can remember being so tired riding the bus that I couldn't keep my eyes open. HATED those two years.

... instead of starting the day with homeroom, they put homeroom in between 3rd and 4th periods, so if you didn't have a substantive class in 1st or 2nd, you could come in later.

Dunno how well that turned out overall, but I rarely showed up for first or second periods, even though I had classes. My 1st period teacher, who was an alcoholic, also missed his share of starts.

Didn't know about teenagers being biologically wired for later start and finish times, but it certainly explains a lot.

-- Mal

Start time changed from 7:30 to 8:15 a.m., and changing from Indiana EDT to Illinois CDT. She never goes to school in the dark.

I have noticed she is much happier and completes her homework faster, even with the added rigor of Junior year classes.

and it was hell.

I also, for some reason, had math for first period every year of high school. I mostly got Cs because I could barely keep my eyes open. I wanted to be an architect too but gave up on it because I thought I was rubbish at math.

Then I went back to college in my 30s and found out I was perfectly fine at math and enjoyed it.

I think schools should offer something like flex time. Where I work you can start anytime between 6-9 and finish any time between 2-5.

If kids want to start earlier they should be able to and if kids need to start/finish later that should be accommodated.

The K-8 school shares the buses with the high school. Grade schoolers get picked up and dropped at the grade school in time for their 8:30 start time. High schoolers get picked up and dropped off in time for their 9 am start time. Grade school gets out at 3; high school at 3:30.

It works. By high school, my kids could get themselves breakfast, make a lunch and catch the bus without parental oversight.

It’s a small district so the buses can be shared.

Even though their Association is officially against it. Its a stressful job. That extra half hour in the morning would be welcome. Either to sleep or prepare more.