Students can now take excused mental health days
Bainbridge Island ReviewOct 01, 2022
Amid the stress and anxiety that teens and young people are facing and were amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic, state legislators have passed a law that allows students to take excused mental health days similar to sick days.
The Office of Superintendent
More than one in three high school students in America report persistent feelings of sadness. Addressing the stigma around mental health in schools can help normalize the idea that it is just as important as physical health, experts say.
Before the law took effect
According to the OSPI, the state is joining others that have turned their attention to student mental health by addressing mental health explicitly as an excused absence.
Students can now use mental health symptoms for an excused absence and take days off to prioritize mental wellness and appointments. Prior to the change, only absences for in-patient or out-patient treatment for mental health were excused. But absences due to general symptoms of mental health unwellness were not.
"There is no 'limit' to the number of absences that a parent/guardian can excuse for a child, but the number of absences does trigger interventions or the truancy process," she said.
As schools receive notice of absences, they may begin to see a more accurate picture of mental-health-related absences. That information can be used to identify a potential need for more support for students.
"We use absence data to provide interventions or alternative plans to access education when needed. We are expected to use a multi-tiered system of support framework to address all excessive absences as outlined by the