Looks like sleeping in is off the table for Florida students. As of now, the answer to this question is no.

Although there was a proposed bill that would've pushed high school and middle school start times back, the potential legislation has since been scrapped.

The previous proposal, introduced as Senate  Bill 296 in March, required the instructional day of district and charter middle schools start no earlier than 8 a.m. and high schools no earlier than 8:30 a.m.

According to the bill, school boards would have also been required to inform the community on the impacts of sleep deprivation on students and the benefits of later school start times.

If passed, it would have taken effect July 1, 2026.

Instead of moving forward with the statutory requirement, a revised version of the bill allows all district school boards and charter schools in Florida to submit a report to the Florida Department of Education by June 1, 2026. According to the bill, this report must include information regarding the current school start times, the strategies considered for implementing the proposed start times, and the impacts and unintended consequences of moving forward with the prescribed times.

This revised legislation was one of several that took effect on July 1 of this year.

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