By Jenny Le

Jan 13, 2022

SAN JOSE, CALIF. — Students in California will now be attending school later starting July 2022, due to tardiness and absences. Gavin Newsom, The California governor signed a bill in 2019 that placed a restriction on school start times.

 According to California Legislative Information, “Existing law requires the school day for middle schools and high schools, including those operated as charter schools, to begin no earlier than 8:00 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., respectively, by July 1, 2022, or the date on which a school district’s or charter school’s respective collective bargaining agreement that is operative on January 1, 2020, expires, whichever is later, except for rural school districts.” This would mean that every student from 7th to 12th grade will be able to get some more sleep before school starts and will not have to wake up at 6 am. Andrea Gutierrez, a student attending Silver Creek high school said, “ Although it would give us enough sleep, I feel like it will be difficult for students and adults to adapt because of our daily schedule.”

Democratic state senator Anthony J. Protantio, wrote this bill so that students would be less likely to be tardy or absent from school. This bill has now opened many advantages along with disadvantages. One advantage is that students can now get at least 8 to 10 hours of sleep so that their brains can function at school. This would give students the opportunity to perform better in school at their best rather than be tired. 

A major disadvantage of this new bill is some parents are now concerned about how they are going to provide transportation for their children since they have work. Many students who participate in after-school activities are also concerned as to how long they might be in school if the start time changes. One thing that should be taken into consideration is, if schools were to start later students would still have to attend the same amount of hours as they did before which means they would most likely get out later than usual.

As a student myself I like the idea of more sleep but my time schedule after school might be difficult. Since we get out so late, it might be difficult to adapt too because of my homework load and other things I have to do at home. As discussed later in the article, transportation is something that I would have to figure out. Like many other students, I get dropped off by my parents then they leave for work. With this new start time, I don’t know who would drive me to school every morning.