ST. LOUIS- Missouri parents could now face jail time if they don't send their kids to school on a regular basis.
The Missouri Supreme Court upheld the convictions of two single mothers who were charged with violating the state’s law after their children had too many unexcused absences on Tuesday.
The case involves two Lebanon, Missouri parents whose kids missed more than a dozen days of school.
In both cases, the parents notified the schools about some of the kids absences were because of illness, but both parents did not make aware all of them.
Lebanon R-III School District requires students to attend school at least 90% of the time, but both parents didn’t know if this percentage included excused absences.
Both parents argued that the Missouri was unconstitutionally vague, the kid's attendance was not sufficiently “regular” to constitute a violation of the statute and they argued that the prosecution failed to prove that the conduct was intentional, according to court documents.
However, the court founded that the law was not vague, and the prosecution had enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that "each parent knowingly failed to cause their child to attend school on a regular basis."