WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Kentucky can force parochial as well as public schools to close temporarily because of the coronavirus pandemic, but only because those restrictions are set to expire early next year.
Gov. Andrew Beshear ordered all public and private K-12 schools closed for in-person instruction beginning Nov. 23, limiting them to remote or virtual learning. The order allowed elementary schools that are not in hard-hit areas to reopen Dec. 7 but kept middle and high schools closed until Jan. 4.
Because the schools begin a holiday recess Friday, the justices did not insist that religious schools be allowed to open now. Instead, they denied a challenge from the state's Republican attorney general and a religious school that argued the closings violated the Constitution's promise of freedom of religion.
"We deny the application without prejudice to the applicants or other parties seeking a new preliminary injunction if the governor issues a school-closing order that applies in the new year," the court said in an unsigned order.
Conservative Associate Justices Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito dissented publicly. Gorsuch said the challengers deserve an answer to their assertion that the executive orders "discriminate against religion." None of the court's other justices announced their votes.
Noting the high court only last month ruled that New York could not severely limit religious worship during the pandemic, Gorsuch wrote, "I would not leave in place yet another potentially unconstitutional decree, even for the next few weeks."
Since the COVID-19 virus first led states to implement restrictions in March, the nation's highest court has weighed in on policies affecting religious services, retail shopping, prison housing and the administration of elections. This was the first time it dealt specifically on education.
In recent weeks, the court's conservatives freed churches, synagogues and mosques from strict attendance limits imposed by Democratic governors in New York and, by extension, California, Colorado and New Jersey.