Less than two weeks after a letter from the Colorado Department of Education raised concerns over funding going to a “public Christian School,” the school’s contractor is standing pat.

In an email sent to the CDE on Tuesday, Education ReEnvisioned BOCES Executive Director Ken Witt said he is “alarmed at the threat to funding a school” based on its religious status and that the department can’t legally discriminate Riverstone Academy on the basis of religious affiliation.

Riverstone is a new school this year based in Pueblo that is contracted through the BOCES and offers “strong academics with classical values, hands-on trade-based learning, and a Christian foundation to help students grow in both knowledge and character,” according to its official website.

Witt has publicly stated that Riverstone is the first public Christian school in Colorado. It led to a letter penned to Witt and District 49 Superintendent Peter Hilts (D-49 is the BOCES’ designated fiscal agent) from CDE’s District Operations Special Advisor Jennifer Okes questioning the school’s right to public funding.

The letter references both the U.S. and Colorado constitutions and concludes that the school can’t receive public funds because of its sectarian operation and instruction.

In his response, Witt argued that the U.S. Constitution prohibits discrimination based “solely on account of its religious affiliation,” that he believes that Riverstone isn’t sectarian under Colorado law, and that probing the school’s curricula “would be unconstitutionally entangling and discriminatory against different forms of religion.”

“In other words, application of Colorado law to harm Riverstone Academy on account of its religious exercise through academic and pedagogical choices would be contrary to the superior requirements of the U.S. Constitution,” Witt wrote.

Okes specifically pointed to social media advertisements as a public Christian school and Riverstone’s use of curriculum from Masterbooks and Berean Builders, both faith-based instructional materials, as examples of the school not being held to the same standards and regulations as other public schools.

Her letter asks the question if the BOCES intends to submit the school’s pupil count to CDE to determine its funding, because she believes it’s ineligible for it.

Witt’s response?

“Riverstone is a fully qualified school that should be funded along the same terms as other schools authorized by Education reEnvisioned,” he said. “Education reEnvisioned did not and will not discriminate against Riverstone Academy due to their religious affiliation.”

A spokesperson for CDE told the Gazette the organization is working to review Witt’s response.