LARGO, Fla. — The Pinellas County School Board voted to approve changes to school start times at four schools.
The board discussed those changes at a meeting on Tuesday, April 14.
WATCH: Pinellas County School Board votes to approve changes to school start times at four schools
Largo Middle School will see the biggest change next school year, with school starting more than two hours earlier.
The start time will move from 9:40 a.m. to 7:25 a.m. for the 2026 to 2027 school year. Dismissal time will move to 1:55 p.m.
Largo High School will start school ten minutes later. The new start time will be 7:35 a.m.
"Our goal is to every year do our best to find deficiencies to gradually move start times for high schools closer to 8 a.m. because it's believed that's better for sleep for adolescence," said Laura Hine, school board member.
The board approved the following changes for the 2026-2027 school year:
- St. Petersburg High School moving from 7:25 a.m. – 1:25 p.m. to 7:45 a.m. – 2:15 p.m.
- Dunedin High School moving from 7:25 a.m. – 1:25 p.m. to 7:45 a.m. – 2:15 p.m.
- Largo High School moving from 7:25 a.m. - 1:55 p.m. to 7:35 a.m. - 2:05 p.m.
- Largo Middle School moving from 9:40 a.m. - 4:10 p.m. to 7:25 a.m. - 1:55 p.m.
Last year, Florida lawmakers reversed a 2023 mandate requiring high schools to start no earlier than 8:30 a.m. and middle schools to start no earlier than 8:00 a.m. School districts pushed back after identifying logistical challenges.
"That legislation was passed, and then a lot of school districts worked to help get it overturned, and that did happen so that we could make the right decisions for our county otherwise we would have just had to snap and move high schools to 8:30 a.m.," said Hine.
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