Ruhi Kaneria | The Chronicle
In an age of packed schedules, AP classes and constant comparison on social media, students are navigating more than just academics at school. As conversations around student mental health grow louder, a new Ohio proposal aims to legitimize something many students already quietly need. A day to step back.
Ohio Senate Bill 330, known as the “Student Wellness Act,” was introduced to the Senate chamber on Nov. 11, 2025, and was referred to the Education Committee on Jan. 11, 2026.
SB 330 allows but does not mandate school districts to permit kindergarten through 12th grade students to take excused mental health days. The policy also requires school districts to detail what qualifies as a mental health day, determine the number of mental health days students may take each school year and provide a method for determining how students can get connected to the school’s support services.
The bill was created by Senator Willis E. Blackshear Jr. with the intent to shine a light on student mental health and to encourage teens to seek out support. After researching trends of rising mental health challenges among students, Blackshear hopes that schools use this bill to connect students to their district’s counseling and resources as well as raise mental health awareness. Since some districts may lack the financial or staffing resources to implement the policy, SB 330 does not mandate districts to adhere to the bill. While Blackshear wrote this bill with the entire population of teens in Ohio in mind, Mason has begun planning what this bill would look like if it were to be implemented locally.
Laura Martin, the prevention and wellness coordinator within Mason City Schools, has been in the district for 22 years. She shares insight into how the district will be impacted by the policy if the bill were to be passed and implemented.
While Martin believes that policies like SB 330 help put mental health at the forefront of people’s minds, she feels that the policy is too short and vague to help students. She notes that the district already provides excused mental health absences for students who need them. Students are allowed to take time off due to hospitalization as well as to seek therapy. Students who just need personal mental health time can currently call the school for an absence. There are limitations to unexcused absences, including 30 or more consecutive hours without a legitimate excuse, 42 or more hours in one school month, and 72 or more hours in one school year. If these thresholds are passed, an intervention team is implemented. For excused absences, students are limited to 38 or more hours in one school month or 65 or more hours in one school year with or without a legitimate excuse.
Mason already has mental health resources and policies written into the student handbook, and bills like SB 330 hope to increase that practice for other Ohio school districts. Martin believes that the bill will not increase services and access to care, as students in mental health crises need support and engagement, not isolation. While students may choose to stay at home, Martin encourages students who are struggling to come to school to use the resources available there.
“We have resource coordinators for all of our grade levels, access to school-based therapy, where [students] can go to therapy without leaving the building [through] our partners with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital therapists who have offices in the building and can see students on a regular schedule,” Martin said. “There are tons of things, but connecting with a person first would be a great first step.”
Martin also notes that alongside the school counselors, students can reach out to Chanel Stevens, a prevention and wellness designer, who is a great resource to connect with if students are interested in therapy or need somebody to check in. Chloe Socha, a grades 7-12 resource coordinator, can help if a student’s family needs food support, clothing or shoes, or if they want to participate in something and they don’t have the financial means to do so.
Students also share a similar perspective on whether wellness days can be implemented effectively at a district level. Senior Mason High School (MHS) student, Lauren McCool, comments on whether she finds the policy to be effective. Having shifted from Lebanon, a smaller school of roughly 1,500 students, to MHS, McCool notices that there are several mental health issues that students face, whether that is the intense academic demographic that is competitive because of the resources and education and AP classes that are offered compared to her old school.
McCool notes the level of difficulty that dramatically increases between Advanced Placement Chemistry at her old school and at Mason. She also credits social media as a big factor because people post their success, but other people see that as fuel for unhealthy comparison. Rather than supporting mental health days to be spent at home, McCool suggests an alternate approach to gaining healthy wellness habits.
“I would side with having more education, like having a day where doing something mindfulness-focused is built into it. Many people slack off and aren’t gonna get anything from it, but I feel like you will get some students who benefit from it because they’re being forced to do anything,” McCool said. “Coloring with music in the background for a bell where you could sign up every day and a yoga class, or an activity that’s dedicated towards wellness [is better] than [going] home [where] you can scroll on your phone all day.”
From a prevention and wellness coordinator’s perspective, Martin also sees the importance of looking at the whole picture of the students’ mental health before determining if a day away from school or in school could be more beneficial.
“I think it depends on what is causing the stress, so if they are consistently not getting enough sleep, obviously sleeping is going to be helpful, or if it is that they feel super behind on their work, getting caught up can be helpful,” Martin said.
Martin emphasizes that mental health is a very individual experience, where students must educate themselves and regulate what they need. As a student, McCool feels that policies like those proposed in the SB 330 Student Wellness Act would reduce stigma around mental health.
“I think a lot of the stigma around mental health comes down to people saying that they understand it, but truly not understanding what it actually is and how much of the stigma is integrated into our lives,” McCool said. “It is a step in the right direction, but I think there has to be a lot more done with education about the stigma around mental health, rather than allowing students to take a day off if they need it.”
