The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a challenge Tuesday, Nov. 3, to Colorado’s preschool funding rule, weighing whether Catholic providers may receive public aid while seeking a religious exemption from its equal-access enrollment condition.
The case, St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, was brought by St. Mary Catholic Parish, St. Bernadette Catholic Parish, the Archdiocese of Denver and parents Daniel and Lisa Sheley. The plaintiffs want the parishes to join Colorado’s Universal Preschool program without following the enrollment condition, which they say conflicts with their religious beliefs.
Colorado law bars participating preschools from denying eligible children equal enrollment access based on a child’s or family’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The state says providers must follow the same rule and that officials cannot waive it.
The justices agreed to consider two questions involving earlier rulings. One asks whether Colorado’s treatment of other enrollment preferences affects whether the rule is neutral and generally applicable under Employment Division v. Smith (1990). The other concerns whether Carson v. Makin (2022), which barred Maine from excluding private schools from tuition aid solely because they were religious, applies only when government explicitly excludes religious institutions. The court declined to take up the petitioners’ separate request to overturn Smith.
The petitioners say Colorado permits secular enrollment preferences and provides special services for children with disabilities and families with low incomes, yet denied their request for a religious accommodation. The state argues those services promote equal access and do not set aside the enrollment condition.
A federal district court ruled against the plaintiffs in June 2024, and the Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed in September 2025. The appeals court said the parish preschools had no categorical bar on children with same-sex parents. It also recounted that Wellspring Catholic Academy had previously refused to admit an elementary-school student for that reason.
The Sheleys lacked about $4,700 in tuition assistance for the 2023-24 school year because St. Mary’s was not participating in the program, according to the district court record. The federal government filed in support of the petitioners, and the Supreme Court authorized the solicitor general to participate in argument. The court’s docket lists arguments for Tuesday, Nov. 3.
