Mid Vermont Christian Academy v. Saunders

Parents are endowed with the deeply personal and difficult task of helping direct the upbringing of their children in a way that allows them to both thrive in society while also living their lives in accordance with the family’s religious faith. Unfortunately, a recent law in Vermont, Act 73, now prohibits parents from utilizing a longstanding town tuition program to send their children to the school of their choice, simply because of their religious affiliation.

But Liberty Justice Center’s PARENTS Initiative is fighting back.

Backing up our allies at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), PARENTS has filed an amicus brief in Mid Vermont Christian Academy v. Saunders in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, urging the court to block enforcement of Vermont’s Act 73. The brief argues that Act 73 is not a neutral education policy, but a deliberate attempt to keep religious families from fully participating in the state’s town tuitioning program.

The tuitioning program has been part of Vermont life for more than 150 years, helping families in towns without their own public schools access the education that best fits their children’s needs. But after the U.S. Supreme Court made clear in Carson v. Makin that states cannot exclude religious schools from generally available tuition programs, Vermont passed Act 73. The law imposes a 25 percent enrollment threshold based on the 2023–2024 school year—a benchmark that many religious schools could never meet because they had previously been shut out of the system. In practice, Act 73 codifies the same discrimination the Supreme Court has already said is unconstitutional.

In February 2026, the Liberty Justice Center filed its own case combating this unlawful Act under the Vermont Constitution, in Caspers v. State of Vermont. For the families Liberty Justice Center represents, this is not an abstract legal fight.

Kollene Caspers’ son is able to use town tuitioning to attend Rice Memorial High School, but her daughter is now barred from doing the same solely because Rice Memorial is a religious school. Valerie Meichtry’s older children can attend Grace Christian School with public tuitioning support, while her younger daughter is denied that same opportunity. Jessica Baker’s son planned to attend Rice Memorial for high school but Act 73 stands in the way. Michele Orosz’s oldest son already attends Rice Memorial with tuitioning support, yet her younger children may be prevented from following in his footsteps. These families are being told that younger siblings do not have the same educational opportunities as their older brothers and sisters, not because their needs are different, but because the state has chosen to draw the line at religious schools.

That is why this case matters so deeply. Parents across Vermont are trying to make thoughtful, deeply personal decisions about where their children will learn, grow, and thrive.

The Liberty Justice Center, through its amicus practice and the PARENTS Initiative, led by Senior Counsel, Timothy R. Snowball, is standing with these parents and children to defend the principle of educational opportunity. A ruling in favor of the appellants would not only protect constitutional rights, but also help ensure that Vermont families are free to pursue the education that is best for their children.