Chronic absenteeism is decreasing in Parsons schools.

 That was the report from USD 503 Assistant Superintendent Jeff Pegues at this week's school board meeting. Pegues told the board that a district task force created two years ago has been identifying reasons for student absenteeism and has helped Parsons schools make improvements in those areas. Pegues said the district improved by 5% compared to the overall improvement of only 2% across the state. Daily attendance in the district was behind the state the last three years, but is now tied with the state average. He noted that younger students have shown a lot of improvement in attendance but that incentive programs need to be added to improve attendance numbers among students at Parsons High School.

The School Board also approved the purchase of a new school bus at the cost of $149,000.