Colorado Christian school challenges state ban on religious funding

The outcome of a Colorado Christian school’s lawsuit could reshape American education by creating an avenue for religious schools to receive public funding.

Riverstone Academy is suing the Colorado Commissioner of Education and the Colorado state school board for having a “clear animus toward people of faith” and unconstitutionally excluding religious schools from public funding.

Riverstone is a unique case because it is not either a traditional public or charter school. Instead, it is classified as a “contract” school.

Unlike a traditional, government-run public school, contract schools are “operated by private entities according to a contract with a school district or a BOCES [Board of Cooperative Education Services.”

A BOCES is a regional, government-run agency which provides a variety of services to schools, such as professional development or special education programs. In other states, they are called Educational Service Agencies.

Riverstone Academy partnered with and received funding from Education ReEnvisioned, one of Colorado’s 21 BOCES agencies, who is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

In October 2025, the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) sent Education ReEnvisioned a letter claiming Riverstone Academy was not eligible for funding because of its sectarian nature.

However, Education ReEnvisioned argues denying its services to a school based on its religious nature would constitute religious discrimination.

“The U.S. Constitution prohibits discrimination against Riverstone solely on account of its religious affiliation as such exclusion from a generally available governmental benefit would be unconstitutional,” wrote Executive Director Ken Witt.

Now, the plaintiffs are appealing to the judiciary to overturn Colorado law.

“Because of Colorado’s stifling ban on funding religious schools, the only state-funded, tuition-free schools in the state are secular,” reads the lawsuit, filed Feb. 13. “Students are therefore left to choose between exercising their religious beliefs and incurring potentially large fees for tuition.”

One such law is Colorado’s Blaine Amendment, which forbids the government from giving public funding to any educational institution operated by a religious group.

Spurred by a 19th century anti-Catholic movement, similar Blaine Amendments are found in a total of 37 state constitutions.

However, the recent resurgence of religious education has called into question their constitutionality.

Riverstone and Education ReEnvisioned claim Colorado’s Blaine Amendment violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, since private secular groups have access to public funding that private religious groups are denied.

“Parents have the Constitutional right to seek out innovative government programs and be treated fairly when they do,” said Jeremy Dys, Senior Counsel with First Liberty Institute, which is representing the plaintiffs.

“Education entrepreneurs like Education ReEnvisioned simply reflect the tradition of the earliest schools in our nation’s history that saw no conflict with the Constitution by integrating religious references throughout their curriculum.”

Riverstone’s case will likely follow in the footsteps of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which tried to launch a religious charter school in Oklahoma.

The debate eventually went to the U.S. Supreme Court where a 4-4 ruling left the prior ruling against St. Isidore in place, after the recusal of Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

However, other Supreme Court precedent – including Trinity Lutheran v. Comer, Espinoza v. Montana and Carson v. Makin – has affirmed the right of religious families and groups to receive public funding for education.