Connecticut Senate Passes Homeschool Oversight Bill
HARTFORD — After several tragic cases of child abuse involving children pulled from school by their parents, the Connecticut Senate voted Tuesday to pass modest new oversight of homeschooled students, requiring parents to annually notify their local school district of their intent to homeschool and pass background checks screening adults in the home for child abuse.
House Bill 5468 passed the Senate on a 22-14 vote after passing the House on April 23. It now heads to the governor’s desk for his signature.
Connecticut currently has nearly no oversight of homeschooling, and children withdrawn from school can simply vanish from public view. The legislation will require:
- Parents withdrawing a child from public school to homeschool to appear in person to sign a withdrawal form, beginning in the 2027-28 school year.
- Superintendents to check DCF records for every adult aged 18 or older living in the household when a parent withdraws a child to homeschool, blocking the withdrawal if any resident is on the child abuse registry or under active DCF investigation, beginning in 2027-28.
- Homeschool parents to file an annual form with their local school district by October 1 each year declaring their intent to educate, beginning in the 2028-29 school year.
- School districts that do not receive a required form by November 1 to make at least three contact attempts and notify the State Department of Education if the family cannot be reached.
The bill also formally codifies “parent-managed learning” as an explicit third educational option in Connecticut law alongside public and private school, replacing the previous vague “equivalent instruction elsewhere” language.
“The vast majority of Connecticut families who homeschool strive to give their children a solid academic education, and we are grateful for the dedication they bring to that work every day. However, Connecticut has seen too many cases of children removed from school and hidden from the teachers and school staff who might have recognized the signs of abuse and been required by law to report it. Reckless driving laws were not passed to punish safe drivers. They were passed to create accountability for the few whose behavior endangers others. This bill exists for the same reason, and it is the least we can do to protect the children who are not so lucky. Children have rights independent of their parents; they are not mere possessions of their parents. The state has an obligation to see that those rights are protected, ” Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney said.
“Most homeschooling families in Connecticut are doing right by their kids. This bill is not about them. It is about the children who are withdrawn from school and disappear, cut off from every adult outside the home who might recognize the signs of abuse and be required by law to report it. Those children deserve better, and this bill is a step toward making sure they get it, ” Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff said.
“Most families who choose to educate their children at home are doing a very good job, and this bill is not about making their lives harder, ” said Senator Douglas McCrory, Senate Chair of the Education Committee. “What we could not accept, in good conscience, was a child being placed in the hands of an adult with a documented history of abusing children. We just want to know who these children are, and we want to know they are safe. If you are doing right by your child, these modest requirements will not stand in your way.”
“The Education committee listened to parents’ concerns and worked to find solutions that will bolster and benefit our state’s educational efforts for years to come, “ said Senator Ceci Maher, Senate Chair of the Committee on Children. “Connecticut currently has no homeschooling standards; this bill responds to the need to understand the full scope of parent-managed learning and how many children are learning at home. I’m grateful to Education Committee co-chairs Representative Jennifer Leeper and Senator Doug McCrory for their tireless work over the last year to be responsive and thoughtful, moving toward a better understanding of parent-managed learning in Connecticut.”
While most homeschooling families work hard to prepare their children for success, Connecticut’s lack of oversight has left some children invisible to the public institutions that might have protected them. Four cases illustrate the consequences:
Eve Rogers Eve Rogers, 12, was found dead in her Enfield home in March 2026. She had been withdrawn from school in the fourth grade for homeschooling and had not been enrolled in Enfield Public Schools in the three years before her death. The cause and manner of her death remain under investigation.
Jacqueline “Mimi” Torres-García Mimi Torres-García, 11, was withdrawn from school by her mother with no background check. She died within two months. Her body, showing signs of starvation and abuse, was not discovered for more than a year.
Waterbury Captivity Case A Waterbury man was withdrawn from school in the fourth grade and subjected to decades of captivity and abuse, invisible to the teachers and school staff who would have been mandated to report it. Firefighters discovered him early last year when they pulled him from a burning home. He weighed 68 pounds.
Matthew Tirado Matthew Tirado, 17, died in 2017 from what the Office of the Child Advocate called prolonged child abuse and neglect after his mother removed him and his sister from school. The OCA examined how Matthew “came to be hidden or invisible” as a result. “The safety net for children who are withdrawn from school for the purpose of home-schooling must be improved,” the OCA wrote.
