The Ohio Legislature passed House Bill 410 which contains new rquirements for school districts and student attendance. A summary of that information includes the following:
School Attendance & Truancy
House Bill (HB) 410 will begin in public schools in the state of Ohio for the 2017-18 school year. In the past, attendance was counted by days absent. This new legislation counts attendance as the number of hours a student misses. Students will be considered habitually truant when they miss:
- 30 or more consecutive hours without a legitimate excuse
- 42 or more hours in a school month without a legitimate excuse, or
- 72 or more hours in a school year without a legitimate excuse
The new bill limits the number of excused and unexcused absences a student can have and will require parents to submit medical documentation stating the reason for the absences once a student misses 38 hours in a month or 65 hours in a school year.
Part of HB 410 requires schools to form a truancy intervention team that includes the parent to determine why students are missing school and to put interventions in place to improve attendance. After the truancy intervention plan is in place, the district is required to file a truancy complaint in court against the parent if the student’s attendance does not improve in 60 days.
West Branch Local Schools will be generating reports to determine students who are at-risk for missing multiple hours of school. Research studies have shown a strong connection between good school attendance and student achievement. For more information on the importance of school attendance and ways to advance student success by reducing absenteeism, please visit the Attendance Works website.
Please see your Student Handbook for further attendance details.