Bill
SB 468
MD public middle/high schools must start no earlier than 8:00 am (middle) and 8:30 am (high) beginning 2027-28, with local planning, public info campaigns, and limited waivers.
Status and key dates
- Introduced: January 22, 2025 (Sen. Benson).
- Effective date: July 1, 2025 (statutory changes take effect); substantive schedule begins in later school years.
- Start-time requirements begin with the 2027–2028 school year.
Purpose
- To set minimum (later) start times for public middle and high schools statewide and to require outreach so families and school communities understand the change and its rationale (health, safety, academic effects of adolescent sleep deprivation).
Main provisions
- Required start times (beginning 2027–2028):
- Public middle schools: instruction must begin no earlier than 8:00 a.m.
- Public high schools: instruction must begin no earlier than 8:30 a.m.
- Waivers:
- The State Board of Education (SBE), upon a county board’s written request, may grant a waiver permitting an earlier start time if SBE finds a compelling reason.
- Lack of funding to implement later start times is explicitly not a “compelling reason” for a waiver.
- Public information campaign (timing and assistance):
- Beginning in the 2026–2027 school year (and concluding before the 2027–2028 school year), each county board of education and each public charter school must run a targeted public information campaign to raise awareness about sleep deprivation, benefits of later start times, and local implementation strategies.
- Campaigns must target parents, teachers, administrators, coaches and provide opportunities for community feedback.
- The State Department of Education will assist county boards/charter schools on request.
- Conforming and technical edits to existing statute language; prekindergarten half‑day programs remain excluded from the statute’s minimum-hour requirement (existing law).
Who is affected
- All Maryland public middle and high schools under county boards and public charter schools.
- Secondary impacts on school transportation systems, athletic/after-school schedules, families (childcare/commute), and local labor/transportation budgets.
Fiscal and operational impacts
- State-level fiscal impact: DLS estimates none (policy implemented locally).
- Local fiscal impact: varies widely by jurisdiction — from no effect (districts already compliant) to significant expense for transportation changes: DLS cites examples such as Frederick County estimating over $30 million first-year costs to expand bus fleet/drivers and >$10 million annually thereafter; other districts (e.g., Baltimore City) report major operational restructuring required. The bill constitutes a mandate on local governments.
Procedural notes
- The bill phases in awareness campaigns one year before the start‑time requirement to allow planning and community engagement.
- SBE waiver authority provides administrative flexibility but excludes funding shortfalls as a basis for exemption.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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