KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
Senate Bill 328 (SB 328), which would not allow any California middle and high schools to begin classes earlier than 8:30 a.m., was passed in the State Assembly and concurred by the State Senate Friday night, and now goes to the Governor’s desk for consideration.
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SB 328 would transfer local control of school start times to the state.
“This bill would require the school day for middle schools and high schools, including those operated as charter schools, to begin no earlier than 8:30 a.m. by July 1, 2021, or the date on which a school district’s collective bargaining agreement that is operative on January 1, 2019, expires, whichever is later,” the bill reads.
Proponents for the bill cite studies that indicate students learn better later in the morning as a reason for supporting the bill, according to officials.
However, the bill would be extremely problematic for the Williams S. Hart Union School District, as some classes in the district start before 7 a.m., according to Steve Sturgeon, president for the Hart School Board.
“It’s absurd from my standpoint,” Sturgeon said.
Sturgeon said that the Hart School Board coordinates with the elementary, middle, and high schools in the Santa Clarita Valley in order to determine starting times for not only classes, but extracurriculars and sports as well for traffic and safety reasons.
SB 328 would make that coordination extremely difficult, officials said.
Many students athletes who may need to travel for games usually leave after three or four periods, according to Sturgeon. If the bill passes, and starting times were pushed one or two hours back, those same athletes would potentially miss an additional class, Sturgeon said.
Assemblyman Lackey voted against the bill, but was unable to comment on the bill at the time of publication, as he was on a plane back to his district from Sacramento.
State Senator Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, who also voted against SB 328, opposed the bill because he believed it took too much control away from local school boards.
“I’m tired of Sacramento doing these one size fits all kinds of solutions to problems that don’t exist,” Wilk said.
Assemblyman Dante Acosta, R-Santa Clarita, also voted against the bill after speaking to parents and school board officials from his district regarding the matter.
“I listened to my district and voted accordingly,” Acosta said.
State Senator Henry Stern, D-Canoga Park, did not have a vote recorded, and was also not available for comment at the time of publication.
Sturgeon encouraged parents and teachers to speak out against the bill in order to get the attention of Governor Jerry Brown.
“Parents and teachers need to voice their opinions,” Sturgeon said. “None of us thought that this bill would make it this far.”
Sturgeon said that the matter would possibly be discussed further at the Hart School Board Meeting Wednesday, but that no official decisions regarding potential changes in the district’s schedule could be made until after the bill was officially signed into law or not.
Ed. Note: Caleb Lunetta contributed to this article.
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How about asking what the parents want rather than voting aling side the school board. Studies show children received higher grade marks, participated more often in class by starting later. It was a stidy on the nrain, age, and time frames.
I vote to start later.
I take my granddaughter to school before I go to work, many parents and grandparents do the same.
Every worker would be late!
This is crazy!…What are they trying to gain? Can’t they just do their own job and not get involved in our???
Medical research has clearly establish that growing children need 8+hours sleep and learn better later in the day. They will be healthier and perform better if school days start later. Our concern should be to promote policies that enhance our kids education rather than meet adults convenience.
Email the Governor to tell him you are against passing this bill.
https://govapps.gov.ca.gov/gov39mail/
My two high school kids start at 8:25 and it’s fantastic. We are all well rested, less stressed, and we get there faster because we are not in the main morning drop off traffic. If all the schools in the state start at around that same time, there shouldn’t be an issue with extracurriculars and sports as they’d ALL have that schedule. My only issue with the bill is that we would no longer have nice empty streets to get to school on.
It’s not such a big deal, get over it. Students DO learn better later in the morning and it’s too bad for athletes.
I agree. There has been a lot of research done about this and some states have already implemented this, proving very beneficial with students getting higher grades and living healthier life styles, including less driving accidents. I’m a mother of two and I will vote for this later start times. People need to start doing more research and think of what’s more important for their children’s future. Please Do your own research before voting against this!!!!