New Ohio bill would allow schools to excuse students for mental health days
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A new Ohio bill would allow school districts to accept mental health days as excused absences. Dubbed the Student Wellness Act, Senate Bill 330 was introduced in late November to codify mental health days for students.
State Sen. Willis E.
Blackshear, Jr. (D-Dayton) introduced the bill, which would allow — but not require — school districts to permit absences for mental health. The Student Wellness Act would permit districts to enact a policy to count mental health days as excused absences.
The bill says policies should include a definition of mental health days, a limit on how many mental health days a student may receive, and a method to determine whether the student would be referred to or receive school health or support services. Blackshear introduced the bill to help K-12 students with mental health pressures.
According to a state survey, one-fifth of Ohio middle schoolers and one-third of high schoolers reported that their mental health was “not good most or all of the time” in 2023. Nearly half of all Ohio high school girls reported poor mental health in 2023, at 46%.
Under current law, school districts can only excuse absences for emergencies, illness, appointments, religious holidays, college or military visits, absences due to major familial changes like foster care, or some work like farm work for students over 14. School districts are permitted to make their own policies for excused absences, but S.B. 330 would offer structure for specific mental health day policies.
This is the third time the Student Wellness Act has been introduced. Blackshear served in the Ohio House until this year and co-sponsored similar legislation when he was a state representative.
His previous bills would have permitted students to take up to three excused mental health days each year. “The reality is that many students in our schools face a number of stressors that can lead to a mental health crisis,” Blackshear said in 2023 of his former bill. “From financial stress, to social anxiety, to preexisting mental health conditions there are a plethora of reasons why a student may have a serious mental health concern that requires intervention.” Unlike Blackshear’s previous bills, S.B. 330 does not cap mental health days at three. Instead, school districts are directed to determine what limit would be best for their students.
Studies show mental health is an issue for Ohio students, but so isabsenteeism. Chronic absenteeism, defined in Ohio law as missing 10% or more of the school year for any reason, is prevalent in the state.
Although chronic absenteeism is declining slightly, about 25% of Ohio students are considered chronically absent each year, according to state data.
When speaking of previous mental health day legislation, Blackshear said districts would have the opportunity not to implement a policy if there are concerns about absenteeism or the policy being taken advantage of. Blackshear said he would hope the policies would contribute to reducing school absences.
He said mental health days would allow for structured time to address mental health concerns, and protect absences from counting toward truancy violations. Truancy violations, or habitually missing school, qualify as 72 hours of unexcused absences for a student within a year, or 30 consecutive hours.
If truant students do not resolve their absences through in-school support programs, they typically have to go to juvenile court. Penalties include community service or parental fines.
The Student Wellness Act awaits committee assignment. It’s next opportunity to advance to committee hearings will be in 2026, when the Ohio Senate returns from a winter hiatus.