Thread: California votes to bar schools from starting before 8:30am to help give students mor

California votes to bar schools from starting before 8:30am to help give students more sleep

Associated Press
7 hours ago

California lawmakers voted Friday to bar middle and high schools from starting before 8:30 a.m., one of dozens of proposals debated in the Legislature on the final day of its legislative session.

The bill, SB328, narrowly passed in both chambers. The development came as lawmakers scrambled to pass bills ahead of a midnight deadline, addressing topics ranging from internet neutrality and smoking at state beaches.

Lawmakers also announced they were shelving several high profile bills, including one that would have declared gay conversion therapy a fraudulent business practice.

Nearly 80 percent of California middle and high schools started earlier than 8:30 a.m. in 2012, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

If Gov. Jerry Brown signs SB328, schools will have about three years to comply. It would not apply to rural schools or to extra periods offered before the start of a school day. It would not mandate changes to school day lengths.

Supporters point to science that shows later start times make kids healthier by letting them get more sleep and help them graduate.

"This is the single most cost-effective thing we can do to improve high school graduation rates," Assemblyman Jay Obernolte, R-Hesperia, said.

Opponents say local school boards, not the state, should determine start times.

"When it comes to education, the farther away the decisions are made from the classroom, the worse those decisions are," Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Riverside, said.

Also on Friday, Assemblyman Evan Low announced he was ending his effort this year to pass a bill declaring gay conversion therapy a fraudulent practice.

The Campbell Democrat said he authored the bill because conversion therapy has been proven ineffective and harmful. His measure would have banned selling or advertising sexual orientation change therapy.

But Low said he needs more time as he tries to craft a national model that could be copied in other states.

The bill had passed both the Senate and Assembly and was awaiting a final Assembly vote to send it to Brown.

Low said he has had productive conversations with opponents, some of whom say lawmakers shouldn't limit therapy choices and others fighting the proposal on religious grounds at emotion-charged legislative hearings.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/09/01...ore-sleep.html

We started school every year I was in first through 12th grade at 8:40 am. Great for town kids who could walk to school while still not too early for those who rode the bus for up to 30 to 45 minutes before school. I approve of this, have thought for a long time children were getting up too early to go to school under these early school hours.

Most parents have to be to work at 8:00 am. How does this affect them? What about single parents, this is a burden on them too.

I think these schools should go to a 12-months schedule with more breaks in between throughout the year than one long summer break.

I also think all taxpayer funded schools need to be in a uniform of khaki pants, tennis shoes and polo shirt schools choice of color.

We need to overhaul the entire schools systems including bringing the Trades back in Grades 9-12. Teach these kids life skills and a job!

This is not a fashion show, now complaints who wears a MAGA hat or t-shirt with the flag on it. These kids dress like trash now.


GET BACK TO EDUCATION...THAT IS WHAT WE ARE PAYING FOR!

AND IF YOU DO NOT LIKE, OR REFUSE, TO WEAR THE UNIFORM THEN GO TO PRIVATE SCHOOL!

When parents go to work doesn't have anything to do with these kids in middle and high school going to school. They can catch the bus themselves and walk to school themselves or carpool with other families. My parents went to work before I went to school, I got myself to school like everyone else did. Elementary school is a little different, and those kids all go to the day care or get to school early. We have a snack bar that was open from 7:30 am where early arrivals could sit at nice tables and have snacks until school started.

I'm against the 12 month school year. I don't even support Spring Break. Skip spring break and let them out a week earlier. Summer vacation is the only time they have to be kids once they start first grade, I had it, you had it, everyone had it, there's no reason on this green earth or blue planet to deprive future generations of Americans of their child-hood and the little bit of freedom they had during the summer to be kids. I'll put an American educated in a 9 month school system up against any Chinese or North Korean or European stuck in a 12 month program any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

I'm against the 12 month school year. I don't even support Spring Break. Skip spring break and let them out a week earlier. Summer vacation is the only time they have to be kids once they start first grade, I had it, you had it, everyone had it, there's no reason on this green earth or blue planet to deprive future generations of Americans of their child-hood and the little bit of freedom they had during the summer to be kids. I'll put an American educated in a 9 month school system up against any Chinese or North Korean or European stuck in a 12 month program any day of the week and twice on Sundays.