Montpelier, Vt., Oct 1, 2021 / 10:58 am
A religious freedom law firm has filed a motion in federal court asking a judge to make permanent a preliminary injunction which says Vermont cannot refuse to fund tuition for religious institutions that would otherwise qualify for the funding.
Represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, four Catholic high school students, their parents, and the Catholic Diocese of Burlington are involved in A.H. v. French. They claim that the state is discriminating by refusing to allow religious schools to benefit from the state’s town tuition program.
Courts ruled in the students’ favor in both January and June, granting them preliminary injunctions. Nevertheless, some school districts in the state have indicated they will reduce tuition benefits in proportion to the religious components of religious schools.
ADF filed a motion Sept. 21 in the district court asking them to make the preliminary injunction permanent, “and to rule that the school districts [in the] State of Vermont cannot reduce the families’ benefits because the schools are religious.”