Federal Court Rules Maine Religious Schools Cannot Receive Public Tuition Funds While Refusing to Follow State Anti-Discrimination Law

A federal appeals court has upheld Maine's authority to require religious schools receiving public tuition assistance to comply with the state's anti-discrimination statutes, dealing a significant legal setback to two Maine institutions that challenged the policy.

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued its decision last week in cases brought by St. Dominic Academy in Auburn and Bangor Christian School, which is operated by Crosspoint Church. Both schools had filed lawsuits in 2023 after the Maine Legislature amended the Maine Human Rights Act to require all schools receiving public money to follow certain nondiscriminatory hiring and admission practices.

Those requirements include allowing students to express gender identities different from those assigned at birth and permitting students to practice religions other than the school's own faith tradition.

The three-judge panel largely affirmed a ruling by U.S. District Judge John Woodcock, who had previously rejected the schools' requests to invalidate the anti-discrimination provisions. The appeals court found that the schools did not present compelling arguments that the rules regarding employment, religious nondiscrimination, sexual orientation, or gender identity unconstitutionally discriminated against the institutions.

However, the court did reverse one aspect of Woodcock's decision, sending that issue back to the lower court for further proceedings.

That narrow victory concerns what the court termed the Religious Expression Rule, a provision added to the Maine Human Rights Act in 2021 stating that schools permitting religious expression must not discriminate between religions. St. Dominic argued this requirement violated its First Amendment right to free expression.

Writing in the St. Dominic case, Judge William Kayatta Jr. agreed that enforcing the rule could conflict with the school's Catholic mission. The court found that requiring the school to allow all religious expression might force it to permit practices such as reciting non-Catholic religious chants during prayer services. The decision stated that compliance would "inevitably interfere with a religious school's ability to foster an expressive environment consistent with its religious mission."

The court determined St. Dominic would likely succeed on this argument and remanded the matter for issuance of an injunction against the state's enforcement of that specific provision.

Adèle Keim, an attorney with the Becket law firm representing St. Dominic, criticized the ruling Monday, saying the decision amounts to discrimination against Catholic schools. She argued the ruling requires Catholic institutions to "agree to help with gender transitions for children as young as kindergarten" and prevents them from prioritizing Catholic students in admissions.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine offered a different perspective, praising the court's decision.

"Any school that chooses to participate in a state-funded education program must play by the same rules and comply with the same state regulations as all other participants," said Carol Garvan, the organization's legal director.

The legal battle has unfolded against a backdrop of shifting educational landscapes in Maine. St. Dominic Academy announced earlier this year that it would close its high school program due to operational losses and declining enrollment. The school's board subsequently attempted to relocate the high school to Lewiston for the upcoming fall semester but abandoned that effort in March after failing to secure necessary funding. The Diocese of Portland's K-8 program remains operational and relocated to the Auburn campus in January.

The appeals court heard oral arguments in the case approximately 18 months ago. A spokesperson for the Maine Attorney General's Office, which represented the Department of Education and the Human Rights Commission, did not respond to requests for comment Monday.

Keim indicated that an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case addressing religious schools and public funding could eventually resolve some of the underlying tensions. The high court is expected to consider similar questions about the intersection of religious liberty and state funding requirements in coming months.