Walnut Grove mom may got to jail for allowing truancy

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- A southwest Missouri woman may go to jail for allowing her 13-year-old son to miss nearly half the 2006-2007 school year.

A Greene County jury on Wednesday convicted Kathleen Casteel of Walnut Grove of violating the state's compulsory-attendance law and recommended she serve seven days in jail.

A judge must approve the jury's recommendation.

Casteel said she wasn't responsible for her son's 51 percent attendance from August 2006 to April 2007, when Reed Middle School revoked his enrollment. She testified that the boy was born prematurely and has a low IQ, and that he lashed out when told to go to school.

She told the jury that her son at times became violent or ran away.

But school officials testified about trouble they'd had getting four of Casteel's children to come to school.

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Information from: The Springfield News-Leader: http://www.news-leader.com