Parents & Catholic school take state to court for punishing faith-based education Maine continues efforts to block religious schools from state tuition assistance program

WASHINGTON – The Radonis family and a Catholic school in Maine were in federal appeals court today challenging a state law that excludes most faith-based schools from serving rural families through the state’s tuition assistance program. Even though the Supreme Court struck down Maine’s religious ban in 2022, state officials continue to exclude faith-based schools and families who want to participate in the program (Watch this video to learn more). In St. Dominic Academy v. Makin, Becket argued on behalf of the Radonises and St. Dominic Academy to restore their ability to access state funding.  

Keith and Valori Radonis are Catholic parents in rural Maine who live in an area without a public high school and want their children to attend a school that upholds their beliefs. They believe that St. Dominic Academy, a pre-kindergarten through twelfth-grade Catholic school with roots tracing back to the 1870s, offers the best education for their children. The Radonises are not alone. Other families, including Daniel and Nancy Cronin, also live in an area without a public high school and want their son, who has dyslexia, to attend St. Dominic so that he can receive the academic support he needs.  

For years, Catholic schools in the Diocese of Portland—including St. Dominic Academy, the only Diocesan high school in Maine—played a vital role in helping families like the Radonises and Cronins educate their children through the state’s tuition assistance program. This program allows parents in rural areas that do not have public schools to educate their children at private schools. That changed in 1982 when Maine began excluding faith-based schools and the families they serve from the program.  

“As Catholics, we want to raise our children in an environment that teaches them to put their faith at the heart of everything they do,” said Keith and Valori Radonis. “Unfortunately, Maine is cheating us of this choice by cutting faith-based schools out of Maine’s tuition program. We pray the court puts an end to this exclusion once and for all.” 

Two terms ago, the Supreme Court struck down Maine’s religious ban in Carson v. Makin. But state officials passed a new law to keep excluding schools like St. Dominic and families like the Radonises and Cronins. Maine’s new law gives the Maine Human Rights Commission—not parents or the school—the final word on admissions, conduct, speech, and policies upholding Catholic beliefs regarding marriage, gender, and family life. Meanwhile, Maine applies none of these rules to out-of-state boarding schools that also receive funds under the same program. As a result, faith-based schools with traditional beliefs are still being barred from the state program to help rural families. 

“Three years ago in the Carson case, the Supreme Court ordered Maine to stop leaving families like the Radonises out in the cold,” said Adèle Keim, senior counsel at Becket. “But Maine wouldn’t listen. Now Maine wants to have bureaucrats in Augusta tell St. Dominic how Catholic it can be. Maine should drop its newest effort to ‘end run’ the Supreme Court and let St. Dominic get back to serving the Maine families that need it most.” 

A ruling from the court is expected early this year.  

For more information or to arrange an interview with a Becket attorney, contact Ryan Colby at [email protected] or 202-349-7219.