OCPS plans to keep school start times

Orange County Public Schools will be submitting a report to the Florida Department of Education to keep current school start times. 

Discussion of potential changes to the school day were a result of Florida Statutes originally mandating that by July 1, 2026, middle schools start no earlier than 8 a.m. and high schools no earlier than 8:30 a.m.

OCPS' current start times are 7:20 a.m. for high schools, 8:45 a.m. for elementary schools and 9:30 a.m. for middle schools.

The district proposed start times of 7:45 a.m. for elementary schools, 8:40 a.m. for high schools and 9:35 a.m. for middle schools.

Parents, students, teachers, school administrators and athletic coaches responded to a school start time survey OCPS distributed Nov. 11-21. 

The survey resulted in 71,453 responses, with 46,798 parents, 9,683 students, 5,606 teachers, 454 school administrators and 496 athletic coaches responding. 

Respondents overwhelmingly opposed the proposed change to school start times with 60% opposing the change, 34% supporting the change and 7% stating they were neutral. 

Senate Bill 296 amended Florida Statutes to allow districts to submit a report to the Florida Department of Education stating community feedback to retain start times. The deadline for OCPS to submit its report is June 1.