A public hearing on school start times was required by Florida law — but the Okaloosa County School District has no plans to change when students begin their day.

• District officials addressed confusion at Monday morning’s School Board workshop ahead of the public hearing, emphasizing that the meeting is a compliance checkbox rather than a signal of impending schedule changes.

“It’s a little confusing to put out that we’re going to take a hearing on something we’re not going to do,” Chairman Linda Evanchyk said. “And that’s what it amounts to, but that’s what we have to do as a board and as a district.”

One speaker urged the board to reconsider.

Dr. Lynn Keefe, a local pediatrician in Niceville who has advocated for later start times for two decades, told the board that research on adolescent sleep has only strengthened over the years.

• “If the data on adolescent sleep and kids was a five out of 10 for the past 20 years, now it’s a 10 out of 10,” Keefe said. “The data that has exploded regarding kids’ brains and health and the damage that’s irreversible when they don’t get enough sleep is there. And our earliest start times continues to harm the kids in our community.”

Keefe said she listened carefully to the district’s reasons for not changing start times and found them unchanged from years past.

“These are the same things I’ve heard for 20 years. Nothing was new,” Keefe said. “I’m too old and too knowledgeable in this topic to play whack-a-mole with those issues.”

She urged the board to treat the issue with the same urgency it brought to school safety measures.

• “We did it for the safety of the schools with the resource officers and fences,” Keefe said. “Let’s do it for the health of our kids with the change to start times.”

Board member Parker Destin expressed interest in further discussion.

“I do think that there is a lot of science undergirding the reason why our young people, especially our high school students, might be deprived of some very necessary sleep by the logistics of why we get them to be the first schools opening every day,” Destin said. “Maybe this is an opportunity to talk about it in earnest in a public way.”

Destin, a former swimmer, said he remembered the exhaustion of early mornings during high school. “I don’t know if it necessarily ruined me, but it definitely impacted me,” he said, noting the toll of balancing athletics with early start times.

• He acknowledged the logistical challenges but noted his openness to the conversation. “I’m interested in having a further discussion on it, but I know I’m only one member, so I’ll leave it at that.”

The confusion stems from a 2023 state law that originally mandated middle schools start no earlier than 8 a.m. and high schools no earlier than 8:30 a.m. After pushback from districts across Florida, lawmakers amended the statute in July 2025 to allow local control — but with strings attached.

Districts that choose to keep their current schedules must submit a compliance report to the state by June 2026 explaining why. Holding a public hearing is part of that requirement.

• “There is no formal recommendation to change start times later to 8:30 and 8 o’clock,” Assistant Superintendent Grant Meyer told the board during the workshop. “So yes, we’re following state law right now.”

Some districts that rushed to implement the original mandate struggled with the transition, Meyer noted.

The compliance process has required multiple departments to examine what later start times would mean for Okaloosa schools. Transportation posed particular challenges — shifting elementary schools to accommodate later secondary schedules would mean young children waiting at bus stops in the dark or staying late in the afternoon.

The district operates a three-tier bus system where buses make three separate runs each morning and afternoon. Moving to a two-tier system would require hiring more bus drivers — a challenge when the district is already about 20 drivers short — and likely purchasing additional buses, according to Chambers.

Staff also analyzed impacts to athletic practice and game schedules, staffing contracts, after-school programs, childcare arrangements and the schedules of military families connected to Eglin Air Force Base and Hurlburt Field.

• Financial considerations included potential costs for additional buses, extended driver hours, longer facility operations and vendor adjustments for food service and after-school programs.

Board member Brett Hinely emphasized the local control aspect of the amended law.

“I think the key that I want the public to know is it’s our decision,” Hinely said. “Let us as the county decide. Bottoms up government. That’s the way it should be.”

Superintendent Marcus Chambers noted that Okaloosa’s current seven-period day already provides flexibility for high school families.

• “We do have folks who want to have first period off and who want to have first and second period off, and we have folks who do that already,” Chambers said. “I think we’re in a climate of school choice, school options for families, and this provides options for families as well.”

The only potential start time adjustments would be minor changes related to school rezoning in the north end of the county and a possible school closure and rezoning in the south end — entirely separate from the state mandate.

Keefe closed her remarks with a personal note, invoking her late son Patrick.

“Let’s do this. It is time.”