Tuesday 3 November 2026
At the Supreme Court, justices press Colorado on why its universal preschool program could not make room for a few dozen Catholic schools
The Supreme Court heard two hours of argument on Tuesday in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, the case this site previewed on Monday, over whether Colorado can keep Catholic preschools out of its universal preschool program because the schools will not sign a nondiscrimination agreement covering sexual orientation and gender identity. Justice Brett Kavanaugh called the case a solution in search of a problem and asked Colorado's lawyer why the state would not seek the win and win, noting that Colorado has more than 2,000 preschool providers against 34 schools in the Archdiocese of Denver. Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked why the case was there at all, and observed that no family had ever asked St. Mary's to change its policies. A decision is expected by the end of the court's term in June 2027.
The program pays for 15 hours a week of preschool for every 4 year old in Colorado and is funded at about 360 million dollars for 2026 and 2027, at roughly 6,100 dollars a child. Schools that take part must promise an equal opportunity to enroll regardless of eight protected classes. The Catholic schools ask families to sign a statement of community beliefs affirming church teaching on marriage, sexuality and gender, and the parishes say that requirement shuts them out for their religious exercise. Nicholas Reaves of the Becket Fund, arguing for the parishes, told the court the schools exist to pass on the faith to the next generation, and after the argument he called Colorado's rules Catholics need not apply rules. Sarah Harris, the principal deputy solicitor general, argued on the same side for the Trump administration.
Colorado's deputy solicitor general, Helen Norton, defended the condition as one rule for every provider that takes public money. Justice Sonia Sotomayor pressed the other side of the case, saying the Catholic schools are not being excluded on their face but are choosing not to participate, and asked whether their position means they will exclude children whose parents are homosexual. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said the plaintiffs were asking for a special rule for religious schools on discrimination.
The lawyers' head count matters to what a ruling would change. The plaintiffs say about 1,500 children across at least 30 Catholic preschools could take part in the program if the exemption were granted. A federal trial court ruled for Colorado in January 2024 and the Tenth Circuit ruled for Colorado in 2025, before the Supreme Court agreed in April to hear the case. Arguments are not rulings, and the questions a justice asks do not settle how that justice votes. The ruling, when it comes in June 2027, will decide whether a state that funds preschool for everyone can condition the money on rules a church school cannot sign.
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