Connecticut’s homeschooling laws have once again come into question by legislators as more details emerge surrounding the death of 11-year-old Jacqueline “Mimi” Torres-Garcia. State Rep. Liz Linehan (D-Cheshire), former co-chair of the state’s Children Committee, urged homeschooling families to “come to the table” this morning during an interview on WTIC 1080.

“Whenever we have this conversation, there’s no willingness to come to the table from a large flock of the homeschooling families,” said Linehan. “In recent weeks I have been contacted by homeschooling families who say, ‘Hey we get this, we understand, let’s talk about how to do it,’ unfortunately, there’s no one coming to the table with an open mind on any large level.” 

Mimi’s body was found buried behind an abandoned house in New Britain by police on Oct. 8. Both Mimi’s mother, Karla Garcia, and Garcia’s boyfriend, Jonatan Nanita, have been charged with murder with special circumstances, conspiracy to commit murder, intentional cruelty to a child under the age of 19, unlawful restraint and risk of injury. Garcia’s sister, Jackelyn Garcia, is believed by police to have witnessed Mimi’s abuse while living with the family from June to August 2024. She has been charged with intentional cruelty to a child, first-degree unlawful restraint, and risk of injury to a minor.

Mimi’s mother, Karla Garcia, told police that her child died on Sept. 19, 2024, after months of abuse and malnourishment. While police are still working to confirm the exact date of the child’s death, if this statement is true, then Mimi would have died only a few weeks after Garcia filed paperwork with Farmington schools notifying them of her intent to withdraw Mimi for the purpose of homeschooling. 

Mimi’s death is the latest in a line of incidents of severe abuse by perpetrators who have allegedly used the state’s homeschooling regulations as a way to dodge scrutiny from mandated reporters and keep their abuse out of the public eye. Talks of homeschool regulation were renewed last session after a 32-year-old Waterbury man was found to have been held captive in his own home for decades. His stepmother, Kimberly Sullivan, withdrew him from school in the fourth or fifth grade. 

“To the best of my knowledge there was conversation [last session] about how do we ensure the safety of children that are withdrawn from school, under the guise of being homeschooled,” said Linehan. “We can’t say these children are being homeschooled, they’re not, there’s abuse and neglect there, and parents who neglect and abuse their children don’t actually put in the time and effort to homeschool.”

The legislature held a May 5 informational hearing to discuss the topic, which attracted a massive outpouring of anti-regulation protesters. Deborah Stevenson, founder of the National Home Education Legal Defense, uncovered draft legislation proposed by the OCA last session via FOIA request, but it never materialized into a bill. Stevenson, one of the state’s most ravenous opponents of homeschool regulation, found the existence of such legislative recommendations to be “not acceptable,” and criticized legislators for not publicly acknowledging its existence at the informational hearing.

As Linehan herself noted, the conversation surrounding state homeschool law first gained steam in 2019, in response to a report released by the Office of the Child Advocate regarding the 2017 death of Matthew Tirado. Tirado was an autistic 17-year-old who died in his home on Feb. 14, 2017. When police found him, he was emaciated and showed signs of severe physical abuse. The OCA determined that his younger sister was withdrawn for the purpose of homeschooling in November 2016, and that Matthew was chronically absent from school from 2012 to 2017. 

“My proposal then, which was an actual proposal, not just a discussion, was to require any parent who wants to pull their child from school to show up at the district office with paperwork and the child with them, in order to do that,” said Linehan. “And then any parent who wants to homeschool their child at any time would need to also do that every year.”

That proposal was a bridge too far for anti-regulation advocates, who showed up at the legislature to protest the inclusion of such language in an omnibus education bill, ultimately succeeding in getting it removed. As it stands currently, Connecticut is the only state in New England that doesn’t require an annual check-in for homeschooling families.

“The sad part is that I have consistently asked homeschooling families to come to the table, but they can’t get past the idea of — the refrain is, ‘I don’t want government inside my home!’” said Linehan. “I don’t want to be inside your home!”

Linehan noted that it would be unlikely for such conversations to happen during the special session expected to be called in November, because “it’s too much of a hot button issue,” but said that she is “ready to do this,” as she has already had years to familiarize herself with the topic. Linehand stressed that she’s not a proponent of regulating how homeschoolers instruct their children, but just wants there to be basic measures in place to ensure their safety. 

“I can only speak for myself, I can’t speak for other legislators of course, but for me, I’m really not interested in talking about curriculum, test scores, anything like that,” said Linehan. “I think that the child’s welfare issue is first and foremost, and that’s what we need to address.”

Linehan said she considered homeschooling her own children, and that she has nothing against the idea of homeschooling, but merely takes trouble with the use of the state’s current laws by abusers. 

“I really hope that the community at large understands,” said Linehan. “I don’t think that homeschooling is the problem, I think that it’s the laws and regulation around homeschooling that creates this loophole that allows abusers to get away with it, and that’s what we need to deal with.”

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