Future leaders need their sleep

It’s Wednesday, so let’s talk about the opening school bell.

If we could line up all my old high school teachers, they would be shocked today that I am (A) still alive, (B) semi-successful, and (C) able to think for myself.

That’s especially true for teachers in my first-period classes. I wasn’t exactly a bright-eyed and bushy-tail student. Classes at Stevenson High School in Sterling Heights, Michigan, started at 7:30 a.m., which meant I was in my seat by 7:29.56.

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It wasn’t so much that I disliked school (though I did), it was that hour of the morning. Who in the world starts their day that early? What crazy wackos came up with the idea of rousting teenagers from their slumber before daybreak? Have they never met a teenager?

Politicians heard those concerns and, naturally, jumped to the wrong conclusion. Our Legislature and governor of the “Free State” of Florida decided to mandate starting times for high schools and middle schools.

Starting with the fall 2026 school year, the middle school day cannot start earlier than 8 a.m.; for high school, it’s 8:30 a.m. Citrus County middle and high schools now start at 7:50 a.m.

The state, in its typical overreach, is not only forcing districts to change their school start times, but they’re also required to push the propaganda that teens will turn out smarter and more successful if we give them an extra whack or two at the snooze button before rising for the day.

Here’s how the law reads:

“Each district school board must inform its community, including parents, students, teachers, school administrators, athletic coaches, and other stakeholders, about the health, safety, and academic impacts of sleep deprivation on middle school and high school students and the benefits of a later school start time and discuss local strategies to successfully implement the later school start times.”

So, not only must Citrus County change its entire school time structure, but it also has to act like we wanted it in the first place.

Let’s discuss.

Not sure it’s news that teenagers like to sleep in. The legislative report quotes the American Association of Pediatrics:

“Research indicates that the average teenager in today’s society has difficulty falling asleep before 11 p.m. and is best suited to wake at 8 a.m. or later.”

The AAP urged school districts to “aim for start times that allow middle and high school students to achieve optimal levels of sleep, 8.5 to 9.5 hours, to improve physical and mental health, safety, academic performance, and quality of life.”

While that sounds a little like coddling, I’m not going to disagree with experts. If they say a teen needs 9 hours of sleep, and early school times are messing with that, so be it.

But this isn’t about kids. If it were, the state simply would pass that info to the districts and suggest they modify school times accordingly.

Nope. The Legislature did what it's known for, and that’s taking problems and shoving them to someone else. 

Right now, all Citrus County high schools and middle schools start at 7:50 a.m.; elementary schools, 9:20 a.m. Changing the starting times in two sets of schools is bound to affect the third set. I can’t imagine the bus nightmare from all this.

Citrus County School District officials are trying to get the law changed before 2026 to allow local districts to set those times, as it should be. The district has a survey on its website for parents to gauge how they feel about all this.

The survey makes it clear that the state’s action will impact all students, regardless of grade level.

“By changing start times for high schools, elementary schools would need to start earlier to make the best use of limited transportation resources,” it reads. “To adapt to these early start times, the projected elementary bus pick-up times would be an hour to two hours earlier than their current pick-up times.”

Plus, bumping the start of the high school day means kids are getting out later, potentially disrupting after-school jobs and activities. That extra time the politicians are hoping to give teens in the morning is replaced at night because kids now have to stay up later to complete their schoolwork.

Some things are so simple, and this is one of them. School districts know their communities, not the governor. They should be deciding when the school day starts.

Any time before noon is inhumane. Just sayin’.

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