Colorado’s Unconstitutional Attack on Families
By Father James de Cendra, DCJM
Principal
St. Mary Catholic Virtue School, Littleton
Should your Colorado tax dollars be used to discourage families from enrolling their children in Catholic schools?
None but the most hostile opponents of the faith would say yes. Yet this is precisely the situation Lisa Sheley has seen — as a parent and enrollment administrator at St. Mary Catholic Virtue School in Littleton — since the state excluded Catholic schools from its “universal” preschool (UPK) program.
Lisa and her husband, Dan Sheley, already had three children enrolled at St. Mary’s in 2022 when Colorado passed a law giving families around $6,000 per child to use at the public, private or faith-based school of their choice. They were elated that their fourth child would be eligible for the UPK program.
But it quickly became apparent that “Colorado Universal Preschool” (or UPK) wasn’t universal at all: it shut out schools (like St. Mary) that uphold the Church’s moral teachings on sexuality and gender. Families like the Sheleys had to choose between affordability and an environment that nourishes their children’s faith.
Especially for families with limited means, the UPK program creates a powerful, taxpayer-funded incentive to forgo Catholic education.
“I talk to a lot of parents, and we often talk about UPK,” Sheley says. “It’s hard to turn away ‘free money.’ So they end up taking a UPK spot. Families are leaving the Catholic school system and they’re not coming back.”
Since UPK began, Catholic preschools in the Denver area reported an almost 20% drop in enrollment. One school, Wellspring Catholic Academy in Lakewood, closed its doors due to funding shortfalls and declining enrollment. This program has been harmful for Catholic families, Catholic schools and, ultimately, the future of the Church in Colorado.
It would be one thing if the state were at least consistent in its standards. But Colorado has conceded that other schools can use many other criteria as legitimate bases for shaping their communities. For example, schools are free to deny families enrollment based on vaccination status, neighborhood, socio-economic demographics or disability. One state official even said a school could exclusively serve children of a particular race or LGBTQ-identified children and families. St. Mary Catholic Virtue School, in contrast, serves children with Down syndrome, autism, and other special needs — in fact, St. Mary's currently serves 75 children with disabilities, approximately 15% of total enrollment. (A similar number of students are enrolled in its Gifted and Talented program.)
But none of that mattered to Colorado bureaucrats. When it comes to Catholic schools that wish to uphold Church teachings as they serve families seeking a Catholic education, the state cries foul.
Lisa Sheley and St. Mary Catholic Virtue School are not passively accepting this gross injustice. We are co-plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the state of Colorado (St. Mary v. Roy) that will be heard by the United States Supreme Court this November. We are well represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and pray confidently that justice will prevail.
Recent precedent is on our side. Rulings in recent cases such as Trinity Lutheran v. Comer, Espinoza v. Montana and Carson v. Makin have made it clear that states cannot make abandoning religious beliefs a precondition for receiving public benefits. It is unconstitutional to exclude religious people from public benefits because of their beliefs or religious exercise. But that is exactly what Colorado is doing by excluding faithful Catholic schools from eligibility for UPK.
St. Mary Catholic Virtue School was built to support parents in guiding their children along a path of moral and intellectual virtues toward holiness.
“Everything that we’re doing at home is reinforced in school,” Lisa Sheley said. “And everything the children do at school is reinforced on Sunday at Mass. It’s just a big circular reinforcement of faith formation.”
That holistic faith formation is worth fighting for. Education at St. Mary is a covenant between parents, teachers, students and clergy. We look forward to the day when the state is supportive of families’ efforts to raise their children in the faith, instead of actively undermining them.
I ask you to join me in praying for Colorado families, like the Sheleys, who are raising the children who will be the future of the Church. I also urge you to support faithful Catholic schools like St. Mary Catholic Virtue School, in which children can be formed as heroes and saints. Finally, please say a prayer on November 3 as the Supreme Court hears arguments in St. Mary v. Roy, that justice and religious liberty may prevail.
