When the leaders of a new elementary school applied for a four-digit public school code from the Colorado Department of Education last summer, they didn鈥檛 mention a key detail: The school would be religious.

Instead, they said Riverstone Academy would offer traditional academics and trade-themed electives. But education department officials soon learned that the 30-student school in Pueblo County would also be run by a Christian group and use some Christian curriculum.

Several department employees raised red flags internally and escalated the issue to state lawyers, according to emails obtained by Chalkbeat through a public records request. Still, Riverstone got its school code, and the department didn鈥檛 confront the school鈥檚 authorizer until months later, after the group鈥檚 director publicly announced that

That鈥檚 when the department cited the Colorado constitution鈥檚 ban on teaching religious tenets in public schools and warned that Riverstone students . But that didn鈥檛 stop hundreds of thousands of dollars from flowing to the school last year.

A department spokesperson told Chalkbeat that the state legislature hasn鈥檛 given the department 鈥渁ny clear authority鈥� to enforce the state constitution鈥檚 ban on religious public schools or the Establishment Clause in the U.S. Constitution鈥檚 First Amendment. The clause prohibits the government from endorsing any religion.

鈥淐ompliance with the First Amendment has historically been enforced through the courts, not by state agencies,鈥� Colorado Department of Education Chief External Relations Officer Emma Garrett-Nelson said in an email.

Riverstone鈥檚 story shows Colorado lacks any clear procedure to keep religious schools out of the public school ecosystem. The school , but not because it was religious. Instead, state lawmakers on the group that authorized it.

As conservative activists around the country chip away at church-state separation in education, that leaves a key question unanswered: Can Colorado stop a religious school from being recognized and funded as a public school?

Steven Green, a law professor at Willamette University who specializes in church-state issues, said that state officials could have and should have stopped Riverstone from opening. He disagreed with the idea that enforcing the state constitution is an issue for the courts and not state agencies.

鈥淎s a state official, however far down it is, they鈥檙e still bound by the Constitution,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not that you wait till litigation occurs.鈥�

Department staff raise questions about Riverstone

Chalkbeat reviewed scores of emails exchanged among more than two dozen Colorado Department of Education employees over two weeks last summer as they pondered whether to give Riverstone a public school code, which is required for data-tracking purposes.

Riverstone鈥檚 school code application arrived June 27, 2025. It was shared with more than a dozen members of a committee that reviews such requests.

On July 2, Jessica Tribbett, a data specialist for the department, emailed committee members that the Christian contractor that would run Riverstone, Forging Education, 鈥渙perates a network of private school campuses committed to academic excellence and spiritual formation.鈥�

Janyce Skalla, a senior policy consultant in the department鈥檚 schools of choice unit, replied, saying that Riverstone鈥檚 website mentioned faith-based science and social studies curriculums, Masterbooks and Berean Builders.

鈥淭he school claims to be public but has some private school elements that are worth flagging,鈥� she wrote.

That afternoon Tribbett emailed four higher-level department employees. She wrote that an internet search revealed that Riverstone would offer 鈥渁 faith-based education鈥� and should be assigned a private school code instead of a public school one.

鈥淎re there guidelines or legislation stating that faith-based curriculum cannot be used if accepting public funding?鈥� Tribbett wrote.

One of the recipients, DJ Loerzel, executive director of data operations, emailed another group of department leaders the next morning.

鈥淭his is the first time we encountered a situation like this,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淎re there specific statutes/policies noting public funds for schools that potentially have a religious curriculum?鈥�

A lawyer meeting, then a decision

By the time the July 4 holiday weekend started, emails show employees from across the education department had been looped into the Riverstone conversation, including executive directors, managers, policy advisors, and an assistant commissioner.

The next step was a meeting with Joe Peters, an assistant state attorney general.

On July 8, after Tribbett and a few others met with Peters, Tribbett sent a brief email to seven higher-ups indicating a decision had been made.

Two days later, Riverstone got its code: 7294.

Ken Haptonstall, who heads the Colorado BOCES Association, a group for public education co-ops like the one that started Riverstone, said a school code provides a kind of legitimacy.

鈥淭o me, once you give a school code, it鈥檚 almost like you鈥檙e giving permission in a way,鈥� he said.

It鈥檚 not clear from the public records what legal advice the assistant attorney general gave the education department. The department withheld some emails from Chalkbeat based on attorney-client privilege.

A spokesperson for the Colorado Attorney General鈥檚 office declined to answer questions about whether state law gives the education department the power to prevent a public religious school from opening.

Garrett-Nelson, the education department spokesperson, described the school code review committee鈥檚 job as an administrative process and said it wasn鈥檛 the place to 鈥渓itigate this important issue.鈥�

鈥淏ased on the current U.S. Supreme Court caselaw, the department likely would have lost a lawsuit challenging the denial of a school code solely based on the religious status鈥� of Forging Education, Riverstone鈥檚 contractor, she wrote in an email.

A said government benefits can鈥檛 be withheld from an organization solely because of its religious status.

But department employees knew more than Forging Education鈥檚 religious affiliation. They knew the school planned to teach students using two different Christian curriculums.

Asked why that didn鈥檛 allow the department to take action, Garrett-Nelson said, 鈥淲e were working closely with our legal counsel as more information was coming to light. Due to the high-stakes nature of litigation in this area, we wanted to ensure we were on stable ground before actively questioning the use of public funds on religious instruction.鈥�

Green, the Willamette law professor, likened the approach to an ostrich putting its head in the sand, particularly because conservative legal groups have consistently pushed for publicly funded religious education in recent years.

鈥淔or any knowledgeable assistant attorney general to think, oh, if we give them just a little bit, or maybe it won鈥檛 manifest itself in the way we think it will 鈥� or maybe it will just go away, that鈥檚 pie in the sky.鈥�

A delayed confrontation

State education leaders confronted Riverstone鈥檚 authorizer 鈥� Education reEnvisioned Board of Cooperative Educational Services, or ERBOCES 鈥� in October, three months after the school code decision and two months after Riverstone opened.

They鈥檇 already begun getting questions as word of the school spread, emails obtained through a public records request show. In early October, Scott Smith, the chief financial and operating officer for the Cherry Creek School District, sent screenshots of Riverstone鈥檚 website to two top department officials and said, 鈥淚鈥檓 wondering how this school can qualify for public funds?鈥�

The department 鈥� the day after Ken Witt, the executive director of ERBOCES, called Riverstone 鈥淐olorado鈥檚 first public Christian school.鈥�

Jennifer Okes, district operations special advisor, wrote to Witt, saying the department 鈥渞ecently became aware鈥� of the school鈥檚 opening. She said that public schools are 鈥� meaning non-religious 鈥� and that Riverstone students might not be eligible for public funding.

In the weeks following Witt鈥檚 headline-making announcement, department officials didn鈥檛 acknowledge they鈥檇 known that Riverstone would be a religious school from the start and that its school code had sparked a dayslong debate.

When Chalkbeat asked in late October whether a school that was clearly religious would be given a school code, department spokesperson Jeremy Meyer said by email, 鈥淚f that hypothetical event were to occur, we would consult with our legal counsel on the appropriate course of action.鈥�

A threat, but no action

Department officials never cracked down on Riverstone.

In January, they selected , a lengthy process the department鈥檚 earlier letter had implied might provide them ammunition for withholding Riverstone鈥檚 funding.

But in February 鈥� the same day Riverstone and ERBOCES filed a religious liberty lawsuit against the state 鈥� department officials sent a letter to Witt saying the department鈥檚 audit wouldn鈥檛 consider religion.

Garrett-Nelson said the department changed course because religion wasn鈥檛 mentioned in its audit guide, which is a set of instructions for school districts. Officials 鈥渄ecided not to rely on this untested approach to claw back funding鈥� because it would have 鈥渓ed straight back into the heart of the litigation risk,鈥� she said.

Today, Riverstone is closed for good, the, and ERBOCES no longer has the power to . But it remains unclear if the education department can or will stop a religious public school, either through bureaucratic steps on the front end or the power of the purse on the back end.

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A controversial 鈥減ublic Christian school鈥� in southern Colorado has closed permanently after changes in Colorado law cut off state funding, its executive director wrote in a legal filing.

Backers opened the 30-student Riverstone Academy in Pueblo County nine months ago with hopes of sparking a religious liberty lawsuit that would go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Instead, the school faced setbacks 鈥� including that forced it to move and with the parents of a young student 鈥� and the legal effort fizzled.

Citing the new provisions in state law, Riverstone Executive Director Quin Friberg wrote in a legal document that the school鈥檚 efforts 鈥渨ill be directed to winding up its operations and shutting down鈥� after the last day of school last week.

The filing signed by Friberg on Thursday is against the Pueblo 70 school board alleging open meetings violations related to Riverstone鈥檚 launch.

鈥� the one backers hoped would go to the Supreme Court 鈥� came in February when Riverstone and its authorizer sued the state for religious discrimination, citing the possibility that the state could eventually claw back the school鈥檚 public funding.

Emails obtained by Chalkbeat show the school was created to spark such a lawsuit after the Supreme Court deadlocked on a last spring. The firm, Alliance Defending Freedom, asked an education lawyer named Brad Miller if he could 鈥渇ind a way for a parallel case to be initiated out of Colorado.鈥�

The case was short-lived. The school and its authorizer, a public education co-op based in Monument, .

The death knell for Riverstone was in the last few days of this spring鈥檚 legislative session. One bars co-ops like the one that authorized Riverstone from starting schools or programs outside their member school districts. The other bars school districts or co-ops from having brick and mortar schools that are entirely run by contractors.

The new limits effectively put Riverstone鈥檚 authorizer 鈥� Education reEnvisioned Board of Cooperative Educational Services or ERBOCES 鈥� at odds with state law, making Riverstone ineligible for state funding. That鈥檚 because Riverstone is located outside of ERBOCES鈥� two member school districts and is run by a contractor.

Riverstone opened quietly last summer in a former office in an industrial area in Pueblo County. It described itself as a public elementary school that offered a Christian foundation, but its religious affiliation wasn鈥檛 widely known until October. That鈥檚 when Ken Witt, the executive director of ERBOCES, that Riverstone was Colorado鈥檚 first public Christian school, surprising members of the public and some government officials.

The fallout included of Pueblo 70 school board member Anne Ochs after a district parent criticized her for her role in bringing Riverstone into the district and for failing to disclose a conflict of interest.

Friberg and Witt did not respond to requests for comment about Riverstone鈥檚 closure.

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