Supreme Court to hear Colorado religious-preschool funding case
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The Supreme Court will hear a church-and-state challenge to Colorado’s publicly funded preschool program on November 3, 2026, testing whether the state may require participating religious providers to follow nondiscrimination rules as a condition of receiving public money.
The case, St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, docket No. 25-581, involves Catholic preschools and related parties that say Colorado’s funding conditions conflict with faith-based admissions and employment policies tied to Catholic teachings on marriage, sex and gender.
The Court granted review on April 20, 2026, limited to two questions. It set the case for argument on August 11, received the electronic record from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit on August 20, and listed the case as circulated on August 27. The Court’s November argument calendar also places the case on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
How Colorado’s preschool program works
Colorado’s Universal Preschool Program allows eligible families to use publicly funded preschool services through participating public, private and faith-based providers. The program is not limited to government-run schools, but providers must meet its participation requirements.
One disputed condition requires participating preschools to provide families an equal opportunity to enroll regardless of factors including race, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, income level or disability. The petitioners’ court filings point to exemptions and administrative discretion that they say permit some providers to use narrower eligibility criteria.
Colorado says the condition applies to providers that participate in the public program and is intended to preserve equal access to a public benefit. The state also says the rule does not target religious institutions because of their religious status and that faith-based providers may participate if they comply with the program’s requirements.
What the Catholic preschools argue
The petitioners argue that Colorado is conditioning public funding on abandoning religious admissions and employment practices. They say their policies reflect Catholic teachings and that the state’s nondiscrimination condition burdens their religious exercise.
Those descriptions are the petitioners’ legal characterization of their policies, not a Supreme Court finding. The justices will consider the dispute in light of the program’s rules, the parties’ arguments and the lower-court record.
The questions before the justices
The first question asks whether proving that a law is not generally applicable under Employment Division v. Smith requires showing either unfettered administrative discretion or categorical exemptions for identical secular conduct.
The second asks whether Carson v. Makin, the Court’s 2022 decision involving public benefits and religious schools, displaces the Smith framework only when the government explicitly excludes religious people or institutions.
The Court granted review only on Questions 1 and 2. It did not accept the petitioners’ separate request to overrule Employment Division v. Smith.
What happens next
The November 3 argument will not be a decision. Colorado’s existing preschool rules remain in effect while the case proceeds, and families are not yet affected by a Supreme Court ruling in this dispute.
The eventual decision could affect future conflicts over public funding, religious institutions, school-choice and early-education programs, and nondiscrimination protections. For now, the immediate development is procedural: the Court has placed the case on its argument calendar and will hear the parties’ competing claims this fall.
Sources
- Supreme Court docket, St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy
- Associated Press: Supreme Court will hear challenge from Catholic preschools
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