A federal judge has ruled that a Colorado-based private academy cannot be barred from participating in the state's Universal Preschool Program despite its policy of only hiring Christians.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Domenico, appointed by President Trump, decided on Monday regarding Darren Patterson Christian Academy (DPCA).
The academy had previously been denied an exemption from the program's antidiscrimination provisions due to its hiring practices and its requirement that both staff and students adhere to traditional standards of sexual ethics and gender identity.
Judge Domenico concluded that state officials do not have a “compelling interest” to deny DPCA an exemption based on the school's “sincere religious beliefs.”
Domenico noted that there are other instances where the Department of Early Childhood has granted exemptions, indicating a lack of consistency in the state's approach. He stated, “The fact that the state recognizes conditions could exist in which it would exempt a preschool from the quality standards, but does not consider Plaintiff's religious convictions sufficiently compelling to do so here, triggers strict scrutiny.”
“Colorado officials tried to force it to abandon its religious beliefs — the very reason parents choose to send their kids to the school — to receive critical state funding. The court's ruling is a resounding win for First Amendment rights,” he added.
Darren Patterson Christian Academy is represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative legal organization known for its advocacy in religious liberty cases.
ADF Senior Counsel Jeremiah Galus emphasized that state officials cannot compel religious schools to renounce their beliefs to access public funding that is available to everyone else. He stated, “The U.S. Supreme Court has reaffirmed this constitutional principle multiple times, and the district court has now fully followed up on its previous decision to safeguard this right for religious schools in Colorado.”
The lawsuit was filed by DPCA in June 2023, as part of a legal challenge by several Christian schools against Colorado's refusal to grant religious exemptions under its preschool funding program.
In an earlier ruling in October 2023, Domenico had issued a preliminary injunction favoring DPCA, suggesting that Colorado's non-discrimination policy likely “violates Plaintiff's rights by interfering with the school's selection of key employees in accordance with its religious convictions under the ‘ministerial exception.’”
