The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on November 3 in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy (No. 25-581), a challenge by two Catholic parishes near Denver to the rules for Colorado's free universal preschool program. The question is whether a state that pays for private preschool can require religious providers to accept every family, including gay and transgender children and children of gay or transgender parents.
Colorado pays for 15 hours a week of preschool for 4-year-olds. Families can choose from public programs and hundreds of private providers, including dozens of religious preschools. Every participating preschool has to agree not to discriminate based on eight characteristics, including sexual orientation and gender identity.
The preschools in the case, St. Mary Catholic Virtue School in Littleton and Wellspring Catholic Academy in Lakewood, wanted to join but asked to be exempt from those two rules, saying they conflict with Catholic teaching on sex and gender. The state said no, and the parishes sued. The Archdiocese of Denver, which oversees more than 30 preschools, told its schools in 2023 not to join the program.
Two lower courts ruled for Colorado, most recently the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in September 2025. The Supreme Court took the case in April. Nicholas Reaves of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty argued for the parishes, and Sarah Harris, principal deputy solicitor general, argued on the same side for the Trump administration. Helen Norton, Colorado's deputy solicitor general, argued for the state, according to the Court's docket.
The parishes say Colorado is shutting out religious schools without saying so. "States are trying to find ways to keep the religious schools out without saying the word religion," Reaves said before the argument. They also point out that the program already lets some providers favor or limit who enrolls, such as Head Start programs with income limits, programs for children with disabilities, and preferences for siblings and staff children. Lisa Sheley, a parent plaintiff, testified that her family would have saved about $4,700 a year if her child's Catholic preschool had been in the program.
Colorado says its rules apply to every provider and keep any family from being turned away. In its brief, the state wrote that it wants to make sure a family's publicly funded preschool options, "however many or few," are "not limited by that family's protected-class status." Brian Dittmeier of the National Women's Law Center, which filed a brief supporting Colorado, said the rules don't limit what religious preschools teach. "This whole case is simply about admissions," he said.
The ruling could reach well past preschool. In Carson v. Makin in 2022, the Court held that states can't exclude religious schools from programs that fund secular private schools. It did not decide whether states can attach nondiscrimination rules to that money. With more public dollars going to private schools through vouchers and education savings accounts, that is the open question here. The parishes have also asked the Court to revisit Employment Division v. Smith, a 1990 ruling that lets neutral laws apply to religious groups. allk12 tracks school choice programs by state.
A decision is expected by the end of the Court's term in June 2027. It is one of several K-12 cases this term, alongside a challenge to a Maryland magnet school admissions lottery.
Sources
Supreme Court of the United States: Docket No. 25-581
Chalkbeat Colorado via CPR News: Supreme Court to decide if religious schools can take public money and still discriminate (October 28, 2026)
Deseret News: Supreme Court to decide if states can ban Catholic preschools from getting public funding (November 2, 2026)
SCOTUSblog: Supreme Court will hear religious liberty case on Catholic preschools and LGBTQ families
