Permits school districts to define excused absences from school to include illness based on student's mental or behavioral health and requires Commissioner of Education to develop guidelines for defining excused absence for this reason.

This bill allows New Jersey school districts to count absences due to a student's mental or behavioral health issues as excused absences. It requires the state Commissioner of Education to work with the Commissioner of Health to create guidelines that define what counts as an excused absence for these health reasons and what documentation schools may need when students return. The policy changes would apply starting the first day of the second full school year after the bill is enacted, giving the state time to prepare administrative rules. Students with mental or behavioral health challenges would gain flexibility in their attendance records, while schools would have a standardized framework to verify these absences.