Ohio is a compulsory attendance state with laws governing how districts should work with students and families to improve attendance. School attendance and engagement in learning are critical to success in school. Attendance and absentee prevention laws had a major overhaul a few years ago in the General Assembly and the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) continues to provide resources to school district leaders about how to comply with those laws and encourage attendance. An FAQ on Ohio’s attendance laws is available on ODE’s website.
ODE has been working with a number of partners on increasing student attendance, engagement and academic achievement. As a part of that effort, ODE is offering a webinar next week on chronic absenteeism prevention strategies. The webinar is being sponsored by ODE and the Stay in the Game! Network, who have partnered with Attendance Works to sponsor a webinar on the multitiered system of supports for attendance that begins with prevention and early intervention.
The webinar will take place next Wednesday, May 17, at 1 p.m. The goal of the webinar is to provide tiered strategies to promote attendance and student engagement as a preventative approach to chronic absenteeism, which means missing 10% or more of school for any reason. The goal of the multitiered system is to remove barriers that prevent students from participating and engaging in learning and to provide needed supports.
ODE is encouraging district leaders and school attendance staff, as well as staff who participate in teams focusing on positive behavioral interventions and supports, to attend the webinar. The webinar is limited to 500 people. When registering, you will need to provide the name of your district or school and your email address.
OSBA’s division of legal services continues to monitor state education laws, including laws governing attendance and absenteeism, and will share any resources to support districts in these area as they become available. If you have questions about the laws governing attendance, please contact the division at (855) OSBA-LAW.