PA Schools Could Start Later Under New Adjustment In State Budget: What To Know

PENNSYLVANIA — When the state budget was signed on July 12, it contained an update of the Pennsylvania School Code that now permits school districts to use existing state education funding to voluntarily implement later high school starting times.

The school code, amended by House Bill 1505, allows districts to draw down money from basic education, transportation, special education and other education money streams to cover the costs of planning, implementing or operating later start times

.A district could not automatically or instantly change start times. Under the amended code, it would have to post the proposal online and solicit public comment at two advertised school board meetings.

If a new start time then is approved, a district would be required to report it to the state Department of Education and detail what funds were used to implement it.

The concept of later secondary school start times in Pennsylvania has been studied for years. In 2017, the state government released a report - “Sleep Deprivation in Adolescents: The Case for Delaying Secondary School Start Times,” - that suggested the ideal start time for secondary school students is 8:30 A.M. or later.

Organizations such as the American Association of Sleep Medicine applauded the later start time measure. and it said it lobbied on its behalf.

The organization long has contended that ensuring students have sufficient rest supports stronger immune systems, sharper focus, and more equitable learning outcomes.

The association also asserts that early school start times lead to chronic sleep restriction that negatively impacts physical and mental health, driving safety,and ability to learn.

“This law is the product of years of persistent, coalition-driven advocacy, with physicians, parents, educators, and sleep scientists working together to sound the alarm on early school start times," Dr. Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse, a sleep sleep neurologist at the University of Pittsburgh stated in an association release.

"While there is still work to be done to implement later school start times across the state, this law gives districts the tools and structure to act."