On May 15, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW) released a new resource for school districts on addressing school attendance, the Ohio School Attendance Guide: District and School Practices in Early Intervention. The new resources reflect the need for proactive early intervention to address attendance issues in Ohio’s schools. Ohio law requires school districts to implement interventions to address school attendance when students meet certain thresholds of school absences.
The guide contains an overview of the attendance issues facing Ohio’s schools and the key laws governing school attendance in districts. Of particular importance to school leadership, the Guide also contains practical strategies for addressing school attendance on a systemic basis. This includes focusing on early preventative strategies, effective use of data and the use of a multitiered system of intervention. There are also strategies that district leadership can use to implement effective interventions on both a district-wide and building-specific basis.
The new guide is one of several resources on school attendance that ODEW has made available. More resources are available on the ODEW website here.
OSBA also has resources available on districts’ legal obligations regarding school absences, including the Ohio Public School Attendance Tuition and Custody Guide, which is available for purchase here. We also host an annual Attendance, Tuition and Custody Law Workshop. Attendance laws and district resources will be covered at the workshop, along with districts’ obligations for students in foster care and students who are homeless, and a panel of magistrates discussing custody orders. More information and registration is available here. Members also welcome to contact OSBA’s legal division’s hotline with general questions on this subject at 855-OSBA-LAW.