This story has been updated.

Thousands of people, including homeschoolers and families, gathered at the state Capitol in Hartford to protest further regulation of homeschooling on the same day the Office of the Child Advocate offered legislative recommendations to increase oversight of the system.

An OCA report released Monday concluded lax homeschooling regulations have meant that some Connecticut children aren’t getting a proper education, and the system has been used to cover up abuse.

It follows the highly publicized case of a Waterbury man who was allegedly imprisoned for decades by his now-deceased father and stepmother after being pulled out of public school around the fifth grade. His stepmother, Kimberly Sullivan, faces felony charges for assault, kidnapping and unlawful restraint.

The report says Connecticut is one of only 12 states with “no meaningful regulation of homeschooling.” There aren’t bills under consideration to adjust the regulations, lawmakers said Monday.

On Monday the Education and Children’s Committees also hosted an informational session in defense of homeschooling. Republicans held a press conference and thousands of people gathered at the state Capitol.

In 2023, another child was found locked away and abused after he had been removed from school for homeschooling. In 2017, another Connecticut teenager died after prolonged abuse and neglect, and it was later discovered that his parents had pulled his sister out of school for homeschooling, the report says.

“This can happen at any time when children are withdrawn from public school under the pretense of homeschooling,” acting Child Advocate Christina Ghio said. “They’re not withdrawn because their parent has a plan to homeschool. They’re withdrawn to avoid the scrutiny of the district.”

Over the past three years in Connecticut, about 5,200 children have been withdrawn from public school to be homeschooled, state officials said Monday. This number doesn’t include students who have been homeschooled for their entire lives.

It’s part of a larger conversation in national politics about parental rights. The movement, typically channeled by right-wing groups, aims to give parents more control over what their children learn in school. It’s often been the basis of objections about curriculum that references LGBTQ issues and racial equity. It has also sparked discussion about vaccination requirements in schools.

“We are perfectly capable of enrolling our children and withdrawing our children,” said Diane Connors, an advocate with the Connecticut Homeschool Network.

Children and parents gathered in droves at hearings and in the Legislative Office Building on Monday. Some children wore signs saying “hands off our kids.” One had handmade a sign that read “More regulation negates why we homeschool.” Kids in the hearing room colored and did school work – one read “Charlotte’s Web,” another tapped out math solutions on her calculator.

In the building’s lobby, more than 2,000 people stood outside the hearing room singing the national anthem and chanting “Freedom, freedom.”

Democratic leadership on the committees said Monday that they didn’t want to regulate curriculum or villainize homeschoolers.

“Our goal with this session is not to be reactive to any single incident, but to offer long-term support and understanding and accountability ” said Children’s Committee co-chair Rep. Corey Paris, D-Stamford, during the hearing.

“We are in no way trying to end homeschooling,” said Education Committee co-chair Rep. Jennifer Leeper, D-Fairfield. “We are not discussing making homeschool students enroll in public schools. We are not interested in dictating your curriculum or how you educate your children. We are not trying to force vaccines on your children.”

Meanwhile Republicans called the hearing a blatant attack on Constitutional and parental rights.

“All of us as Senators and Representatives have taken an oath to the Constitution and nowhere in the Constitution — that I’ve read multiple times — does it say that government should or must go after law-abiding parents who are exercising their parental rights as to how best to educate their kids,” Sen. Jeff Gordon, R-Woodstock.

In 2018, the OCA issued a report on the case of Matthew Tirado, a 17-year-old who was diagnosed with autism and an intellectual disability. The Department of Children and Families had a case open for several years regarding educational neglect for Matthew and suspected physical abuse of his sister.

His sister was withdrawn from school for homeschooling, and about three months later, Matthew died after prolonged abuse and neglect.

In 2023, a 10-year-old was found locked away and being abused after having been withdrawn from school for homeschooling. Police went to the house because of a domestic disturbance and found the child had injuries across his body, a broken finger, cauliflower ear and was malnourished. 

The Office of the Child Advocate reviewed a sample size of the cases of about 1,500 children withdrawn for homeschooling. About 31% of those were chronically absent before they were withdrawn.

The office checked half of that list of 1,500 students and found that about 23% lived in families with at least one report of abuse or neglect that was accepted for investigation. About 8% of the children lived in families with four or more accepted reports.

Ghio said there are questions about whether children enrolled in homeschooling are getting a proper education and whether another adult is checking on them to ensure they aren’t being abused. School employees make the most reports to DCF of any other group of mandated reporters. 

Connecticut is the only state in New England identified as not requiring notice that parents are going to pull a child into homeschooling. Massachusetts requires that parents present their homeschooling plan ahead of taking their child out of public school and report annually on the plan. Rhode Island requires regular reports about homeschooling progress to the local school district.

Connecticut law requires that parents enroll their children in public school unless they are receiving “equivalent instruction” elsewhere. There is a list of school subjects in statute that kids should learn. But there isn’t a mechanism to enforce the law and no required way for parents to prove their child is getting an education.

The child advocate’s report recommended that the statute be changed to describe how parents should show that their children are getting equivalent instruction, institute an annual evaluation requirement, and require districts to review their records to see if there is a suspicion of abuse or neglect before approving a family’s application to homeschool. It also recommended that DCF provide guidance and training to its workers on what is required for homeschooling.

“Because we have no standard at all to follow up once a child is withdrawn from school for the purpose of homeschooling, we have no information whatsoever that tells us whether or not those children are receiving education,” Ghio said.

But Republicans and other attendees at Monday’s press conference said the scrutiny is falling on homeschooling rather than where they believe it belongs: on DCF and with the Waterbury Public Schools.

“Shame on you. If you care about these children, get criminals off the street that abuse children, and actually regulate the systematic problem we have in our state government,” said Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield.

Deborah Stevenson, an attorney at the National Home Education Legal Defense, said homeschooling already has sufficient regulation with the list of school subjects required, and that parents accused of educational neglect should be “innocent until proven guilty.”

Waterbury schools didn’t respond to requests by press time.

DCF Commissioner Jodi Hill-Lily said at the panel that there are limitations to what DCF can do in certain situations without law enforcement involvement. The agency supports homeschooling, but thinks there are “loopholes,” to be closed to make sure children are safe, she said.

Department of Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker said while the state has issued guidance for homeschooling and how to report to the school district that a family is pulling their child out of public school for homeschooling.

Fran Rabinowitz, executive director at the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents, spoke in favor of more regulation in the law to make sure Connecticut children are properly educated.

“Our policy goals are to ensure that there is a balance between the rights of parents to direct the education of their children and the state’s interest in ensuring that all children are educated, and the child’s right to an education and to be free from abuse or neglect,” Ghio said in an interview.

Sarah Eagan, executive director of the Center for Children’s Advocacy, issued a statement Monday that said the answer to the problem isn’t to “scapegoat,” the child welfare agencies but for local districts to do more to ensure homeschooled children are getting an education.

“Connecticut, as 39 states have already done, will need to strike a balance of those rights to ensure children are educated and safe. To do nothing is untenable,” Eagan said.

Beau Triba, an advocate with the Coalition for Responsible Home Education, told his story to lawmakers about being homeschooled in Connecticut. He said his education was religion-based and didn’t prepare him for adult life and that it was often used to cover up neglect and abuse. When he was 16, he attempted suicide but still didn’t get professional help.

“Stories like mine continue to happen right under your nose,” Triba said.

CT Mirror photojournalist Shahrzad Rasekh contributed to this report.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly referred to Beau Triba by the she/her pronouns. Triba uses he/him pronouns.