Flagler Schools to survey community after state law lets districts defer later start times

Flagler County School Board members received an update Oct. 28 on state changes to school start-time law and a district plan to solicit community input before deciding whether to change local schedules.

State context: staff summarized recent state action. A 2023 law had required middle schools to start no earlier than 8 a.m. and high schools no earlier than 8:30 a.m. Senate Bill 296 (2025) amended that approach to allow local school boards to submit an exemption report to the Florida Department of Education instead of immediately changing times; the report must be filed by June 1, 2026 if a board intends to keep current times rather than adopt the later starts.

Flagler—s status and staff recommendation: district staff told trustees that Flagler—s current start times are middle schools 7:30 a.m. and high schools 8:10 a.m. After cross-departmental analysis of transportation, staffing, extended-day programs and student safety, presenters said it is not their recommendation at this time to change the schedule. Staff emphasized the primary barrier is transportation: moving to later starts would require route changes, additional driver hours and potentially more buses or a return to mixed-age bus trips — all of which have financial and operational implications.

Stakeholder engagement and next steps: administrators proposed a November stakeholder survey to collect feedback from families, students, staff and community members; the survey will include questions about safety (walking and lighting at bus stops), after-school work and activity schedules, and parents— ability to provide supervision when older and younger siblings have staggered release times. Staff said they will present survey findings, an operational cost estimate and a draft exemption report (if the board wishes to submit one) in the coming months.

Board reaction: members said they intended to give the community an informed opportunity to respond, requested the survey avoid forcing a Google account login and asked staff to display district analysis of pros, cons and likely impacts alongside the survey. Several trustees urged consideration of safety and transportation equity for neighborhoods with limited sidewalks or lighting.

Why it matters: the change affects middle- and high-school daily schedules, student sleep and family logistics. The board must decide whether to change local times, submit the state-required exemption report or otherwise document community engagement and operational impacts by the June 1, 2026 deadline.

Source attribution: presentation and Q&A led by Dr. O'Brien and district operations staff Oct. 28.