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Committee unanimously approves bill letting districts use grants to shift secondary start times to 8:30 a.m. or later
Summary
House Bill 2152 allows costs for planning and operating later secondary school start times to be eligible for certain safety and mental-health grants and permits participating districts to set a secondary start time no earlier than 8:30 a.m.; the committee adopted the bill unanimously after proponents cited research and implementation challenges.
The House Education Committee unanimously adopted House Bill 2152, which allows costs associated with planning, implementing or operating a later secondary school start time to be an eligible use of school-safety and mental-health grants and permits participating school entities to implement a secondary instructional day start time no earlier than 8:30 a.m.
Representative Cooper, sponsor of the bill, thanked medical experts and advocacy groups and said decades of research — including a 2019 General Assembly study — show later start times improve teen health, academic performance and safety while reducing risks of depression, anxiety and motor-vehicle crashes. Cooper said the bill is nonmandated and lets districts move at their own pace, using existing grants to cover costs.
Representative Friel (former school board president) described local implementation challenges, including coordination with other districts, transportation and extracurricular schedules, and said shifting start times can be expensive and complex. Supporters said the bill provides practical financial assistance to offset those costs.
The committee adopted the bill unanimously with no negative votes recorded on the committee roster.
