California Senate Bill 328: Covered Schools, Effective Date, and Enforcement

Under the California school start time law, public high schools cannot begin the schoolday before 8:30 a.m. and public middle schools cannot begin before 8:00 a.m. The rule comes from Senate Bill 328, signed in October 2019, and has been fully in force since July 1, 2022.¹ The two times are floors. A district can start later if it wants to, but it cannot start earlier.²

Which Schools Are Covered

The law reaches all public middle schools (generally grades six through eight) and all public high schools (grades nine through twelve). Charter middle schools and charter high schools are included.¹ Private schools are not.

Elementary schools are not covered either. If your child attends a K–8 school, which start time applies depends on how the district classifies the middle school grades within that school.

Rural school districts are exempt from the start time requirements.² The original statute did not define “rural” for this purpose. Later legislation, SB 1125, signaled the Legislature’s intent to create a formal definition of a rural school district and rural charter school for this section.

What Counts as the Start of the Schoolday

SB 328 defines “schoolday” by reference to the time a school uses to calculate average daily attendance, which is the figure that drives state funding.² That definition matters because it leaves room for optional early sessions.

Schools can still offer “zero periods” and other early-morning classes or activities, as long as those sessions are not required of all students and do not count toward average daily attendance. A high school can run a 7:00 a.m. elective or athletic training block without violating the law, provided the session is genuinely voluntary and sits outside the attendance clock. The required academic day, the one that generates funding, is what has to wait until 8:30 for high schoolers or 8:00 for middle schoolers.

When the Rules Took Effect

Governor Newsom signed SB 328 on October 13, 2019, and the statute took effect on January 1, 2020.¹ Districts had until July 1, 2022, to comply, or until the expiration of any collective bargaining agreement already in effect on January 1, 2020, whichever came later.² By the 2022–2023 school year, most districts had moved to compliant schedules.

What To Do if a School Starts Too Early

SB 328 has no penalty clause, no fine schedule, and no explicit enforcement mechanism for districts that ignore the start time floors. Two subsections of the code are written as encouragements rather than mandates: the California Department of Education is encouraged to post sleep research on its website, and schools are encouraged to inform families about the health effects of sleep deprivation.²

If your child’s middle or high school is starting the required day earlier than the law allows, the most direct route is raising the issue with the school board. California’s Uniform Complaint Procedures allow written complaints alleging violations of state education law, which could potentially cover a start time violation, though the statute itself does not reference that process. Most compliance so far has come from districts adopting new schedules on their own rather than from formal enforcement actions.

Before filing anything, confirm what the school is actually counting as the start of the schoolday. A 7:15 a.m. zero period that is optional and not counted for average daily attendance is permitted. A required first period that begins before 8:30 a.m. at a high school, or before 8:00 a.m. at a middle school, is not.

1
California Legislative Information. California Education Code 46148 – Pupil Attendance: School Start Time
2
California Legislative Information. California Education Code EDC 46148