BUFFALO, N.Y. — Finding the motivation to get out of bed and get to work might be easier said than done, but having an bonus to incentivize you might make things easier.

That’s the same approach being taken in some schools.

“There are some students that intrinsically, they’re motivated,” said Buffalo Public Schools Superintendent Pascal Mubenga. “The reality is we have about 20% of our students are not showing up. We have to do something.”

It’s a problem Mubenga is familiar with.

“Our kids are supposed to go to school to learn for the future, right? But as parents and grandparents, time to time, when they bring a good report card home, we do something [for] them,” he said.

So why not incentivize attendance?

A pilot program Buffalo Public Schools launched in January will put kids with no more than one absence that month into a drawing.

“First winner $500, [then] $300, $200,” Mubenga said. “I think $500 and $300 and $200. That’s a big deal for our kids.”

That’s money students can use for whatever they want. Say Yes Buffalo is providing the funds given to them by a private donor.

“Does it get to root cause initially? No. But I think these incentives models work,” said Say Yes Buffalo CEO David Rust. “They’re used in other school districts around the country. They’re used in almost every workplace in the country too.”

Rust points out that this is a low risk, potentially high reward way to get — or keep — kids on the right track.

“The more often you go to school, the more likely you are to have good grades, and it gives you a good opportunity to then go earn a certificate, an apprenticeship, or a two-year degree or a four-year degree through Say Yes scholarships,” Rust added. “That’s a long-term strategy.”

While there might be many reasons for a lack of attendance, this is one part of a larger effort to support students.

“It could be transportation, can be food, can be access to resources, it can be clothing, it can be housing. There are a lot of things stacked up against young people in our urban and rural markets today,” Rust said. “At the end of the day, it’s on all of us to try and find solutions to help young people, and there’s a lot of ways to do that.”

The program runs for six months. The district will then look at the numbers and see if it’s working.

“We have to have a mindset of continuous improvement and get back to the drawing board with my team and see if there are other creative ways to get our students motivated,” said Mubenga.

Because whether it’s this or some other program, it’s results they’re after.