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Why Tracy families aren't thrilled about a later school start times mandate

Governor Newsom just signed a new bill into law on Sunday, pushing class back until 8:30 a.m. for high schools and 8:00 a.m. for middle schools.

TRACY, Calif. — California is now the first state in the country to mandate delayed school start times across the state.

Over at West High School in Tracy, their students wake up the earliest out of the other schools in Tracy Unified School District. They're classes start at 7:50 a.m. every morning.

But with the new bill Governor Newsom just signed into law on Sunday, class would be pushed back until 8:30 a.m. at the earliest at most high schools in the state and 8 a.m. for middle schools.

RELATED: California becomes first state to mandate later school start times

"Does it make any sense that a first grader can come to school at 8 o'clock but a student who is in the 9th or 10th grade can't come till 8:30? I mean that just doesn't make sense. That doesn't pass the smell test," Dr. Brian Stephens, Superintendent of the Tracy Unified School District said.

While some studies say later start times could increase academic performance, Dr. Stephens said it will actually cause a ripple effect, from transportation schedules to after school sports.

RELATED: Does later start time at school work? Some Vacaville students, parents aren't so sure

"Look at our athletic contests. Are we going to push back the start of game times to accommodate this? Because if you don't do that, kids are going to miss more school than ever before," he said.

The district does have a before-school breakfast program set up for students that arrive to school early, but the budget doesn't have room to pay staff to come in even earlier.

"We're not going to keep school open an hour before school starts just so parents can drop kids off. We've got budget restraints just like everyone else does," he said.

Many working parents now worry how this will impact their schedules as well.

"It kind of throws off the parent's schedule as well, right? if you have to drive them to school because, a lot of times, parents, they drop off their kids at school and they have to get to work at a certain time. So now, what do you do?" said Steven Chan, a parent.

Chan has two kids going to West High School right now who are used to the daily routine.

"I think it's a good idea if they get up earlier and get out earlier because later when they grow up, and they have to go to work, a lot of people have to get up earlier to go to work," he said.

And students ABC10 spoke with say, of course they would love a few extra minutes to sleep in, but none of them really want to stay at school any later.

"I would want to get out earlier. I wouldn't want to have to stay here for that long, when I could just get the school day done with earlier and I could just get to my responsibilities afterwards," said Farah Almasri, a senior at West High School.

Most schools across the state of California have until the 2022-2023 school year to implement these delayed school start times.

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