Florida lawmakers are advancing several bills that would have big impacts on public school students and their parents.
Florida legislative panels OK’d bills on Tuesday that would require students to learn cursive and ban them from using phones during the entire school day.
Another approved bill would nix the upcoming statewide mandate for later class start times for middle and high school students.
Here’s what Floridians need to know.
Phone bans
One bill, HB 949, would prohibit students from using cell phones during the school day.
This would build on a 2023 law that bans phones during instructional time.
The new legislation would allow students to use phones in designated areas with a school administrator’s permission. It would take effect in July if approved.
While some lawmakers voiced concerns on Tuesday about a student's possible lack of access to a phone during a shooting or medical emergency, every member of the House Education Administration Subcommittee ultimately voted in favor.
The bill sponsor, Republican Rep. Demi Busatta of Coral Gables, emphasized that it’s up to school districts to implement the restriction in a way that’s the “best fit.”
But Busatta noted that she’d heard “some concerns that we’ll work through as we move through the process.”
“Cell phones not only cause constant distractions to a student's focus during the school day, which impedes their ability to learn, but it also has shown to increase bullying throughout the school day,” she said.
The measure still has one committee to go before it could reach a vote on the House floor. The Senate would also need to pick up the prohibition.
A Senate proposal, SB 1296, would test-run a school day phone ban in six state school districts. It has not appeared before a committee yet.
Some school districts, like Broward County Public Schools, have already banned phone use across the entire school day.
No mandated later school start times
Two years ago, Florida lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved a measure mandating later school start times for older students.
It came amid concerns about the negative effects of sleep deprivation on adolescents.
Set to take effect in July 2026, the law will prevent middle schools from starting classes earlier than 8 a.m. and high schools before 8:30 a.m.
But the Senate Pre-K–12 Education Appropriations Committee advanced a bill, SB 296, that would undo that on Tuesday.
Sen. Jennifer Bradley, a Republican from Fleming Island who sponsored the bill, said the state had received “overwhelming” feedback from school districts.
“A state mandate on school start times would present incredible challenges financially and otherwise,” Bradley said.
Republican Sen. Danny Burgess of Zephyrhills, committee chair and sponsor of the 2023 bill, voted in support.
“I want to say thank you to the districts that have exercised their local control and opted to do it because, again, the research is there,” he said, referring to schools that have already pushed back start times.
Burgess said research, showing the benefits of more sleep, collided with the resource restrictions in some districts.
“I think if anything, these efforts have uncovered a lot of gaps, whether it's the bus driver shortage or other issues that school districts would run into,” he said. “So perhaps it's time for us to also rise and try to help meet those needs if we can and where we can.”
The legislation retains a requirement from Burgess’s 2023 bill that school districts inform the community of the negative impacts of sleep deprivation on students.
The new bill also says they must “consider the benefits of a later school start time when adopting middle school and high school start times.”
The bill only got one no vote in Tuesday’s committee, from Republican Sen. Don Gaetz of Crestview. It has one committee stop to go before it can reach the Senate floor.
An identical House bill, HB 261, has yet to be heard by a committee.
Required cursive
Another bill heard Tuesday, HB 921, requires elementary schools to give students cursive instruction starting in the second grade.
By the end of 5th grade, students “must demonstrate proficiency in cursive writing through an evaluation of written work,” according to the bill.
The House Student Academic Success Subcommittee unanimously approved it.
“In a digital age, we must not lose sight of the foundational skills that connect us to our history and sharpen our minds,” said Republican Rep. Toby Overdorf of Palm City, the bill sponsor.
“If our students can't read cursive writing, they can't read the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution or even a grandparent’s handwritten letter,” he said.
It has one more committee stop before the House floor. An identical Senate bill, SB 1394, still waits to be picked up by its first committee.
If you have any questions about the legislative session, you can ask the Your Florida team by clicking here.
This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
