Chances of Sleeping in an a Weekday

In a prior article, the Day Creek Howl investigated Senate Bill 328 regarding school beginning no earlier than 8:30am. However, the bill has been put on hold because there were not enough votes in the State Assembly.

The California Teachers Association (C.T.A) published a recent mailer standing against this bill, arguing that the extension of time should be left up to each local school district. Seth Bramble, a Legislative advocate, wrote that the time change would require more school buses for some districts which could end up costing more for some districts. After multiple attempts to reach out to the CTA and Mr. Bramble, they did not respond to the Howl’s request for an interview.  

The author of the bill, Senator Portantino, said the issue will be visited again soon in the State Senate. “The California School Board Association strongly opposed the bill while the California Teacher’s Association opposed it second. The reasons for it were local control and public health. The bill was brought to Assembly in November. Since the bill has been shelved, I can pick it up again in January of 2018. [I will] continue to campaign this bill [because] students’ health is important to me. I know because I am a dad [myself],” said Senator Portantino.

This issue has gained interest across the entire state of California, as administrators and districts continue to debate the benefits and drawbacks of SB 328.