A Bill to Allow Mental Health Days as Excused Absences
Public schools must accept up to 5 mental health days per year as excused absences.
Public K-12 schools shall accept up to 5 mental health days per student per school year as excused absences without requiring a doctor's note.
A parent or guardian must notify the school in writing within 48 hours.
$25 million for school counselor training.
Department of Education tracks compliance through annual surveys.
Mechanical parts, sourced & timed
Use this as your pre-round checklist. Memorize the source citation. Time yourself to the delivery target.
- Bill / Number
- H.R. 410 — A Bill to Allow Mental Health Days as Excused Absences
- Funding source
- $25M ED counselor-training grants.
- Timeline
- Next school year.
- Realistic — Oregon and Utah already implemented.
- Enforcing agency
- Department of Education.
- Yes — ED tracks attendance policies under ESSA.
- Penalty for non-compliance
- Federal counselor-grant adjustment.
- Source citation
- JED Foundation / Brookings (2022), 'State of Adolescent Mental Health' — brookings.edu.
- Delivery time (read aloud)
- 50s
Mental health days create excuses for skipping school, hurting attendance.
Oregon's 2019 data (Brookings 2022) showed the average student used 1.6 of 5 days — fewer than the unexcused absences these students were already taking. The bill *reduces* truancy.