CV NEWS FEED // A Colorado federal district court this week ruled in favor of a local Christian academy’s right to participate in the state-funded universal preschool program, without having to compromise its religious beliefs to be eligible for the program.
Darren Patterson Christian Academy sued the state in June 2023, after state officials from the Colorado Department of Early Childhood told the academy that they could only participate in the preschool program if they changed certain policies based on its religion, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF.)
The universal school program guarantees that four-year-olds have access to at least 15 hours per week of preschool education that is funded by the state.
ADF, whose lawyers represented the academy, states that department demanded that the school “must hire employees who do not share its faith and alter internal rules and policies that are based on the school’s religious beliefs about sexuality and gender—including those that relate to restroom usage, pronouns, dress codes, and student housing during expeditions and field trips.”
The court ruled Feb. 24 in favor of the school because the school offered “no convincing explanation” for denying the academy funding for the program, as other schools were allowed exemptions on various policies, ADF reports.
ADF Senior Counsel Jeremiah Galus called the ruling “a resounding win for First Amendment rights.”
“The government can’t force religious schools to abandon their beliefs—and how they exercise those beliefs—to participate in a public benefit program that everyone else can access,” he said. “The U.S. Supreme Court has reaffirmed this constitutional principle multiple times, and the district court has now fully followed up on its previous decision to safeguard this right for religious schools in Colorado.”
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