Siloam Springs School District leaders told the board that chronic absenteeism remains a significant challenge after first‑quarter data and a University of Arkansas Office of Education Policy report showed the district trailing peers in the Northwest Arkansas cooperative.

"Last year, overall in our district, 33 percent of our students were chronically absent," said Patrick, district administrator, summarizing recent research and local figures. Board members described the trend as longstanding and frustrating and asked for concrete strategies.

Attendance staff presented early‑year counts: because the district is just into the first quarter, officials used a running metric (students with 2–3 absences and those with 4+ absences so far) to flag at‑risk students. "We know kids get sick... but the state doesn't really care what they're missing school for. They just count it as a day of missed school," said Amy Carter, who noted the state metric for chronic absenteeism is 15 or more missed days in a year.

Trustees discussed both incentives and consequences. Some board members suggested options other districts use, including stricter credit‑withholding policies at the secondary level and incentive programs for staff or students; others warned about unintended consequences for graduation rates and equity. "There are districts in Northwest Arkansas that withhold credit; those are some of the districts whose attendance data is better than ours," Patrick said, noting tradeoffs with graduation‑rate reporting.

Administrators said they are compiling strategies used by higher‑performing districts and will pursue both school‑level engagement (special events, adult connections, targeted outreach) and broader community efforts. Board members committed to forming a working approach and flagged the need for parent partnership to improve attendance.

No board vote was taken. Officials urged continued tracking and promised further proposals for incentives, policy changes and targeted interventions.