Supreme Court Hearing Today St Mary Catholic Parish v Roy: Catholic Preschools and Colorado Preschool Funding

Fifteen hours a week, free, at the preschool a family chooses. That was the promise Colorado voters approved in 2020, and the state programme that followed in 2023 was open to public and private providers alike, except for Catholic preschools that said they could not sign one condition. On Tuesday, 3 November 2026, at about 10 a.m. Eastern time, the United States Supreme Court hears their case, on the same day Americans vote in midterm elections.

The case is St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, No. 25-581. Nicholas Reaves, senior counsel at Becket, the legal group representing the parents and preschools, will argue for the challengers, Becket reports. Dan and Lisa Sheley, the parents of seven who are plaintiffs in the case, will speak to reporters after the hearing.

The federal government is backing the challengers, and the solicitor general will take part in the argument, EconoTimes reports. This article reports what was known before the hearing began, and it makes no prediction about the outcome.

St Mary Catholic Parish v Roy Supreme Court Questions Smith and Carson

The justices agreed to hear the case on 20 April 2026, but they limited it to two questions, EconoTimes reports. The first asks whether Colorado's treatment of other enrolment preferences affects whether its rule is neutral and generally applicable under Employment Division v. Smith, the 1990 decision on neutral laws. The second asks whether Carson v. Makin, the 2022 ruling that barred Maine from excluding religious schools from tuition aid solely because they were religious, applies only when a state explicitly excludes religious institutions.

The Court declined to consider overturning Smith, EconoTimes reports. The argument will be fought on ground the Court has already marked out, not on whether the old rule should fall altogether. The challengers say Colorado's rule is not generally applicable, because the state allows preferences for particular groups while refusing an accommodation for a parish school that wants Catholic families.

Capitol Patriot, summarising the questions presented, reports that the petition points to state allowances for providers to focus on children of colour, gender-nonconforming children, the LGBTQ community, low-income families and children with disabilities. A federal district court ruled for Colorado in June 2024, and the Tenth Circuit affirmed in September 2025, EconoTimes reports.

Colorado Universal Preschool Funding 6000 Dollars Per Child

The money figures need care, because different reports measure the benefit differently, and the two numbers in circulation should not be added together. Becket puts the programme benefit at about $6,000 per child. Azat TV, reporting NPR's account, puts the annual per-child funding at approximately $6,300, derived from state tobacco taxes.

Becket's figure and the Azat TV figure describe the same programme in different ways, and this article reports both, attributed, rather than settling on one.

For one family, the district court record gives a plainer number. The Sheleys lacked about $4,700 in tuition assistance for the 2023-24 school year because St. Mary's was not taking part in the programme, EconoTimes reports, citing the district court record. Becket says families like the Sheleys have been forced to pay thousands out of pocket for Catholic preschool, and that enrolment at archdiocesan preschools has fallen 20 percent since the programme began, with two schools closing.

That enrolment claim is Becket's account, not a figure confirmed by the state in the reports read for this article.

Capitol Patriot, citing a National Constitution Center preview, reports that last school year the programme enrolled more than 40,000 children at over 2,000 sites. Becket says more than 1,500 children at over 30 Catholic preschools were left ineligible, Capitol Patriot reports.

What Colorado and the Catholic Parishes Each Say in St Mary v Roy

Colorado law bars participating preschools from denying eligible children equal enrolment access based on a child's or family's sexual orientation or gender identity, EconoTimes reports. The state says providers must follow the same rule and that officials cannot waive it.

The National Women's Law Center warns that a ruling against Colorado could open the door for other publicly funded programmes to turn families away. "No four-year-old child should be denied preschool placement because their parents are gay or lesbian," Brian Dittmeier, the centre's director of LGBTQI+ equality, said in its statement. The centre filed an amicus brief in August 2026 arguing that universal access must mean universal for all children, including those with same-sex parents.

Becket frames the case the other way round. When Colorado created the programme, it promised every family 15 hours of free preschool per week at the provider of their choice, a benefit worth about $6,000 per child, Becket says. The archdiocese's preschools ask families to be supportive of the Catholic faith, and Becket says that requirement led Colorado to exclude all of the archdiocese's preschools from the programme.

Readers can follow the background to this case in Latest: St. Mary v. Roy — Supreme Court to Decide if Colorado Can Block Catholic Preschools (2026) and in Today: Supreme Court to Hear St Mary Catholic Parish v Roy Colorado Preschool Case November 3 2026. Related pressure on Christians is covered in Latest: US Congressman Riley Moore Says Christians in Nigeria Still Face Unspeakable Violence November 2026 and India Christians Denied Graves for Their Dead on All Souls Day.

When the lawyers sit down and the Sheleys step outside to face the cameras, the questions will already be fixed: two questions, one programme, and a promise made to every Colorado family. Whether "universal" can hold both a nondiscrimination rule and a christain preschool's conscience is the question the justices will carry away with them, and the answer will not arrive until next summer.

But the most surprising part of this story is yet to come — keep reading.