In December 2016, the Ohio General Assembly passed House Bill (HB) 410
as a preventative approach to absenteeism and truancy. The law went into effect during the 2017-18
school year, and as a result, this new legislation counts attendance as the
number of hours a student misses instead of the number of days. As a result,
students will be considered habitually truant when they miss:
- Absent 30 or more consecutive hours without a legitimate excuse
- Absent 42 or more hours in a school month without a legitimate excuse,
or
- Absent 72 or more hours in a school year without a legitimate excuse
The bill limits the number of excused and unexcused absences a student
can have. It 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.
Excused Absences in Trotwood-Madison City Schools are:
- Personal illness (a written physician’s statement verifying the illness may be required)
- Illness in the family necessitating the presence of the child
- Quarantine of the home
- Death in the family
- Necessary work at home due to absence or incapacity of
parent(s)/guardian(s)
- Observation or celebration of a bona fide religious holiday
- Out-of-state travel (up to a maximum of four (4) days per school year)
to participate in a District-approved enrichment or extracurricular activity
- Such good cause as may be acceptable to the Superintendent
- Medically necessary leave for a pregnant student in accordance with
Policy 5751
- Service as a precinct officer at a primary, special or general election
in accordance with the program set forth in Policy 5725