Overview
- The federal complaint, filed Feb. 13 in the U.S. District Court for Colorado, names Education Commissioner Susana Córdova and the nine members of the State Board of Education as defendants.
- Education ReEnvisioned BOCES and Riverstone Academy filed the suit after ERBOCES contracted with the tuition‑free Christian school in Pueblo and included its students in a state funding request.
- The Colorado Department of Education told ERBOCES that any school it operates must be nonsectarian, yet officials say Riverstone is being funded for now and a clawback decision will follow an audit expected in early 2027.
- The lawsuit challenges Colorado’s Blaine amendment under the Free Exercise, Equal Protection, and Establishment Clauses and cites Trinity Lutheran, Espinoza, and Carson as controlling precedent.
- Riverstone’s original building was closed by Pueblo County over alleged code violations, and the school says it is operating at a temporary undisclosed location, while emails reported by Chalkbeat indicate the school may have been set up as a test case.