Ohio HB 96 Readiness Made Simple
Many forward-thinking Ohio districts are already exploring Apptegy's Attendance Pro solution to help strengthen their attendance practices now that the state's new chronic absenteeism standard is in effect.
Have peace of mind and start the 2026–27 school year with your new attendance policy already working the way it's supposed to.
With Apptegy, your district can turn HB 96's chronic absenteeism definition into an early-intervention advantage—automated, from the first missed day.
The Reality of Attendance in Ohio
Beginning with the 2026–27 school year, Ohio House Bill 96 replaced the old "excessively absent" standard with "chronically absent"—a student who misses 10% or more of the minimum required hours in a school year. As of Aug. 1, 2026, Ohio districts were required to have adopted a formal policy addressing chronic absenteeism.
That policy must also set parameters for parental reporting of absences, excusing absences, absence documentation, and health-related attendance, and must reflect updated court filing requirements that call for closer collaboration with county juvenile courts.
Now that the policy requirement is in effect, a district's day-to-day attendance workflow and its documentation practices both flow directly into a policy that the community, the board, and the courts are already watching.
The Reality of Attendance in Ohio
Beginning with the 2026–27 school year, Ohio House Bill 96 replaced the old "excessively absent" standard with "chronically absent"—a student who misses 10% or more of the minimum required hours in a school year. As of Aug. 1, 2026, Ohio districts were required to have adopted a formal policy addressing chronic absenteeism.
That policy must also set parameters for parental reporting of absences, excusing absences, absence documentation, and health-related attendance, and must reflect updated court filing requirements that call for closer collaboration with county juvenile courts.
Now that the policy requirement is in effect, a district's day-to-day attendance workflow and its documentation practices both flow directly into a policy that the community, the board, and the courts are already watching.
An Easy Path Forward
Luckily, solutions like Apptegy's AI-powered Attendance Pro already include many of the features that align with what HB 96 asks for—supporting districts' policy requirements and making it easier to adapt without overhauling existing communication tools.
Apptegy's platform lets parents share absence reasons and documentation in real time, and gives your team one safe, branded, and exportable system for outreach and recordkeeping, all without adding extra work to your frontline staff.
Attendance Pro gives your district proactive tools to help:
→ Dynamically understand student attendance concerns and code absences automatically
→ Helps you spot concerning attendance trends early
→ Keep every family notification traceable, multilingual, and aligned with your HB 96 policy
/)
What school leaders can do now
Now that HB 96's policy requirement is in effect, Ohio districts can take these steps to put it into practice:
1. Select and designate an attendance reporting solution that makes coding of absences easy and surfaces areas of concern for intervention.
2. Refine and operationalize your chronic absenteeism policy so its parameters for parental reporting, excusing absences, and documentation are actually being followed day to day.
3. Coordinate with your county juvenile court and keep training current as the new standard takes hold across the school year.
/)
Apptegy Platform: Designed for K-12 Communications
As districts operationalize their HB 96 policy, Apptegy's platform stands out as purpose-built for seamless and automated absence coding and tracking. Designed for K-12 use and built with exceptional user experience in mind, Apptegy can:
Automate the work that drains staff capacity in both attendance follow-up, documentation, and reporting.
Reach every family and get instant responses, with two-way SMS and messaging that sends automatically and feels like a natural conversation in families' preferred languages.
Surface early-warning signals on attendance risk, so districts can act before a pattern becomes chronic.
What does attendance administration really cost your district?
Estimate the staff time and cost tied up in manual attendance follow-up today.
FAQ
Districts were required to adopt a policy addressing chronic absenteeism no later than Aug. 1, 2026 — a deadline that has now passed.
Make Your HB 96 Policy Work in Practice. Talk with an Apptegy Rep About Next Steps.
Now that HB 96's policy requirement is in effect, the Apptegy team is here to provide additional information and context, including:
A personalized demo to see how Apptegy addresses your district's specific attendance needs.
Insights from over 5,500 district partnerships regarding K-12 attendance, communication trends, and best practices.
Fast-tracking implementation timelines so your policy works in practice, not just on paper.
This content was created to help Ohio school leaders understand the implications of HB 96 and how Apptegy's solutions address related attendance needs. This is not legal advice. For specific legal guidance regarding HB 96 compliance, districts should consult with their legal counsel.