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August 22, 2023By Julie Asher, OSV News
(OSV News) -- Two Catholic parishes with preschools in the Archdiocese of Denver filed a lawsuit Aug. 16 in U.S. District Court against the state of Colorado for excluding religious preschools from participating in the state's Universal Preschool Program.
Becket, a Washington-based religious liberty law firm, is representing St. Bernadette Catholic Parish and St. Mary Catholic Parish in the Denver suburbs of Lakewood and Littleton, respectively, and the Archdiocese of Denver.
The suit, St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, names as defendants Lisa Roy, executive director of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, and Dawn Odean, director of Colorado's Universal Preschool Program.
The schools are suing because "the state has banned funding for religious preschools because they provide an education rooted in their beliefs," Becket said in an Aug. 16 newsrelease. The schools "are asking a federal court to ensure that religious preschools can participate in the funding program just like every other private secular school."
The ban "forces parents to choose between paying out of pocket for the cost of faith-based preschool or receiving a free preschool education at any other private school in Colorado," Becket said, adding that it "hurts the ability of schools like St. Mary's and St. Bernadette's to compete with other preschools that can offer free preschool education."
In 2022, Colorado created its Universal Preschool Program to provide children access to a free preschool education the year before they are enrolled in kindergarten. Parents have to apply for the program, "which provides 4-year-olds 10 hours a week of tuition-free preschool in public school classrooms or private settings, such as child care centers, churches, or homes licensed to provide preschool," according to the website of Colorado's Department of Early Childhood.
The lawsuit specifically singled out the requirement that preschool providers "accept any applicant without regard to a student or family's religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity, and to prohibit schools from 'discriminat(ing) against any person' on the same bases." But "these requirements directly conflict with St. Mary's, St. Bernadette's, and the Archdiocese's religious beliefs and their religious obligations as entities that carry out the Catholic Church's mission of Catholic education in northern Colorado," the suit said.
In accordance with their Catholic beliefs, the two Catholic parish schools "give priority to Catholic families seeking to ensure their children receive a Catholic education," including families from their own congregations" but also welcome Catholic families active in other local parishes and Catholic families who recently moved to the Denver area.
In response to the lawsuit, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis' office said in a statement that "the voters were clear on their support for parent choice and a universal, mixed delivery system that is independently run, that doesn't discriminate against anyone and offers free preschool to every child no matter who their parents are."
The plaintiffs "do not believe adhering" to Catholic religious beliefs and teachings "constitutes discrimination," the lawsuit said.
In adhering to archdiocesan guidance, the two parish schools "also must ensure that those who teach in and administer their preschool programs uphold Catholic moral teachings in both word and deed," it added.
Nick Reaves, counsel at Becket, argued that "universal should mean universal" and by barring schools like St. Bernadette and St. Mary from being a provider in its Universal Preschool Program, "Colorado is slamming the door on hundreds of parents that need help sending their kids to preschool, all because the schools that are best for their kids reflect their beliefs.'
"Families should be free to choose the private school that best meets their needs -- whether it is secular or religious," Reaves said in a statement.