Public California middle and high schools, with the exception of those in rural districts, will push back start times beginning the 2022-2023 school year under Senate Bill (SB) 328, approved by Governor Gavin Newsom on Oct. 13. Middle schools can start no later than 8 a.m. and high schools can start no later than 8:30 a.m., but zero periods will continue to be held before school starts.
Proponents of the new law claim it benefits students’ mental and physical health, which improves academic performance, whereas opponents argue local communities know their schools best and should determine when school starts.
Pros of SB 328
By Arden Nguyen, Staff Writer
Homework, sports and extracurriculars take up several hours after school, but there just isn’t enough time in the day. As a result, it’s not uncommon for students to stay up late finishing assignments and then wake up tired the next morning. But study after study has shown that sleep deprivation negatively affects both their physical and mental health, as well as school performance. SB 328 hopes to change this dilemma. The law could mean fewer tardies and absences because students will have enough energy to attend school. Additionally, they will be more alert and focused instead of falling asleep in class, resulting in improved grades. Clearly, the benefits of the new law will have an immense impact on students’ lives.
Although there are some downsides, SB 328 is a necessary step in the right direction. Extending school start times by half an hour may not seem like much, but for exhausted and stressed students, it makes all the difference.
Cons of SB 328
By Karen Phan, Opinion Editor
Each community has its own needs and require locals to work together to determine what’s beneficial. SB 328 may have given districts a few years to prepare for the later start time, but there’s no denying that students, parents and teachers will suffer consequences regardless of how much planning they do.
Despite the later start time, many students will continue to come to school early even if they don’t have a zero period. The law only benefits students who are able to sleep in; those who can’t don’t get anything out of it and have to wait longer for school to start. Students who arrive early are also unlikely to be adequately supervised at schools that don’t have enough funding for early supervision.
Traffic gets bad at around 7:30 a.m. as well, and it doesn’t let up quickly. This is another reason why parents may drop their kids off early. More importantly, it affects bus routes and more students may ride the bus to school if they no longer have a ride to school, in turn raising district costs as districts hire more bus drivers and buy more buses. SB 328 does not provide funding to reimburse finances directed to buses.
Pushing the start time back pushes back the end of the school day, too. Half an hour is a lot of time for some students, such as athletes and those who have jobs. They will be forced to end practices or games later in the evening or work later hours, which takes away time from homework and rest, which forces them to stay up late to do assignments, which means they don’t get as much sleep as SB 328 is supposed to help them get.
In this case, many schools with long periods will be severely impacted by SB 328. FVHS should be able to adapt quickly because previous bell schedules have had sixth periods that ended at around 2:50 to 3:00 p.m. Regardless of how much or little SB 328 affects our community, we should consider that each community will be affected differently and thus won’t all benefit from this cookie-cutter legislation.
