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District reports rising medical and mental-health absences even as suspensions fall; board weighs parent education and incentives
Summary
O'Fallon Township High School District 203 presented attendance data showing a rise in medically excused and mental-health coded absences this year (total absences 30,262 day/half-days); board members discussed misuse of mental-health days for college visits and plans for incentives and regional truancy support.
District principals told the board that absences coded as medical and mental-health rose in 2025–26 while overall excused-unexcused totals remained roughly steady.
"For our excused absences, we we had 2,190 students that used 12,226 days and half days," Principal Howe reported. He gave additional counts: unresolved absences — 776 students using 4,153.5 days; mental-health absences — 1,396 students using 3,911 days; medically excused absences — 1,381 students using 9,671.5 days. The presenter summarized the year total as 30,262 day and a half days.
Board members asked how a mental-health day is recorded and whether parents must provide a reason. "Their parent or guardian is calling," the principal said; "You don't have to give a reason." Several trustees and staff raised concerns that some parents use the mental-health code for college visits or vacations because it requires no paperwork, and suggested better parent education and simpler excused-absence processes for college visits.
The board discussed interventions the district will try next year, including incentive programs (senior benchmarks tied to finals exemptions), competitions to encourage attendance, earlier tracking by grade level, and closer collaboration with the regional office of education (ROE) to address truancy among upper-level students. Staff also emphasized data refinement to separate absences parents report from attendance-system artifacts (for example, unresolved absences when students are tardy and not checked in).
Out-of-school suspension days declined notably: the district reported 775.5 suspension days this year across 161 students, down from 1,267 suspension days in 2022–23.
District staff said they will produce more grade-level breakdowns on request and said the attendance data will inform course and intervention planning for the coming school year.
