Colorado Politics is out with a story by Eric Young about Riverstone Academy, a Pueblo-based K-5 school that describes itself as a tuition-free public option with Christian-based instruction, and is now suing the State of Colorado, alleging religious discrimination. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado and argues that Colorado law violates the First Amendment’s free exercise clause by prohibiting public funding toward religious schools.
The piece lays out the state’s position, too. Colorado Department of Education officials pointed to the Colorado Constitution’s limits on sectarian instruction in public schools, and the long-running tension between “nonsectarian public education” and attempts to blend religious doctrine with public funding. Riverstone and its partners say the state is treating religious schools differently simply because they are religious.
Riverstone’s creation and rapid collision with state oversight is the heart of the article: it opened last fall, drew attention after openly Christian programming, and now the dispute has escalated into litigation that could test how Colorado applies its constitutional provisions and funding rules.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Riverstone Academy, described as a Christian-based public K-5 school in Pueblo, filed suit claiming Colorado is discriminating against it by blocking public funding for religious schools.
- The defendants include Education Commissioner Susana Cordova and the Colorado Board of Education, and CDE says it cannot comment because it is pending litigation. The old “no comment” shield goes up the second the heat arrives.
- CDE’s letter to the BOCES and district officials emphasizes the state constitution’s requirement that public schools be nonsectarian, and says that includes schools operating through BOCES arrangements. This is Colorado’s legal wall, and Riverstone is trying to run straight through it.
- The article notes Riverstones memorandum of understanding to operate within Pueblo County D-70’s boundaries was approved with little public notice in June 2025. The “oops, we didn’t know” era of governance continues.
- The complaint attacks Colorado’s Blaine Amendment language as rooted in anti-religious bigotry and asks the court to block any clawback of funding and prevent similar action against the school in the future. This is not a polite disagreement. It’s a full constitutional fistfight.
My Bottom Line
Outstanding. Good on this school for challenging the state, because I agree with their assessment: Colorado has developed a bad habit of treating people of faith like second-class citizens in public life. The moment a Christian foundation shows up anywhere near a public system, the bureaucratic immune system fires up and tries to expel it.
Now, let me be clear, because the grown-ups should be able to do two thoughts at once. I am not pretending to know how this ends legally. The article lays out the constitutional tension and the state’s argument about nonsectarian public education. But I also know what it looks like when a state’s posture is, That worldview is not welcome here, and then it wraps that posture in legal jargon and calls it neutrality.
And here is the bigger point that matters to parents and taxpayers: families are desperate for schools that teach character, discipline, and a moral framework that does not change with the latest social media trend. Riverstone is saying, We can provide strong academics and build character with a Christian foundation. The state’s reflex is to treat that like contraband.
So yes, I’m glad they’re pushing back. If Colorado wants to be a state that welcomes everyone, it needs to stop acting like faith is something to be managed, contained, or punished. Let the courts sort the legal questions out. But on the cultural question, I’m with the school: people of faith have every right to stand up, speak up, and refuse to be shoved to the margins.
Source: Colorado Politics
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