Every absence will count this school year in Dublin City Schools, whether a child stays home sick, visits the dentist or skips class without permission.
Ohio House Bill 96, which took effect Sept. 30, 2025, requires all districts to implement updated attendance policies starting with the 2026-27 school year. For Dublin's 17,049 students returning Aug. 20 the change is straightforward: excused, medically excused and unexcused absences all now count toward a student's chronic absenteeism threshold.
A student is considered chronically absent after missing at least 10% of the minimum instructional hours required during the school year, according to the district's 2026-27 student handbook. Dublin will notify families when a student misses more than 50 hours and will send a formal chronic absenteeism letter at the 10% mark, NBC4 reported, citing a district website article.
The district says its goal is to intervene before problems reach that point.
What changed
Previously, many Ohio families relied on the distinction between excused and unexcused absences. That distinction is gone. Under HB 96, it no longer matters for chronic absenteeism calculations. Tardiness and early dismissals also accumulate toward the total.
"Sometimes we hear from parents, it's just 10, 15 minutes here or there," Adrienne Bowden, coordinator of engagement and student success at Pickerington Local Schools, told NBC4. "Now we're into a day. We're into two or three days a month, and that's a lot of instructional time the students are missing."
Districts statewide must also notify families before missed time reaches 5% of the school year, an earlier trigger than many previously used. Dublin's 50-hour notification threshold aligns with that requirement.
Chronic absenteeism and habitual truancy remain legally distinct. Truancy is still based solely on unexcused absences: 30 or more consecutive hours, 42 or more hours in one school month, or 72 or more hours in one school year, per the Dublin handbook.
Why the state acted
Ohio's chronic absenteeism rate hit 25.1% in 2024-25, roughly one in four students. The rate spiked to 30.2% during the 2021-22 pandemic school year and has barely budged since, according to Cleveland.com. The state's target is 12.8%.
Ohio's suburban districts averaged 16.4%, well below the statewide figure but still above the state goal. Legislators determined the old approach of sending letters after students hit a set number of missed days wasn't working.
"That really has not helped move the needle on chronic absence," Jessica Horowitz-Moore, chief of student and academic supports at the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, told Cleveland.com in October 2025.
HB 96 shifts the model toward tiered intervention. Support can begin when a student misses two or three days per month. Court involvement for truancy cases is now a last resort, required only if a student is habitually truant and not making satisfactory progress.
What Dublin families should know
Dublin City Schools, led by superintendent Dr. Jennifer Schwanke, had until Aug. 1 to adopt its updated attendance policy. The law requires districts to develop their plans in consultation with their county juvenile court, parents and community partners.
Key thresholds for the 2026-27 year:
- 50+ hours missed: Family receives notification from the district
- 10% of instructional time: Formal chronic absenteeism letter
- Habitual truancy (unexcused only): 30 consecutive hours, 42 hours in a month, or 72 hours in a year
Excused absences still cover illness, medical appointments and religious observances. The district is not asking sick children to attend school. But that time away now factors into the chronic absenteeism count.
Dublin City Schools opens for K-12 students Thursday, Aug. 20. The district's full attendance policy is available in its online student handbook.
