Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-1088_dbfi.pdf
Page Number: 8

4 

CARSON v. MAKIN 

Opinion of the Court 

The Department has stated that, in administering this re-
quirement, it “considers a sectarian school to be one that is 
associated  with  a  particular  faith  or  belief  system  and 
which, in addition to teaching academic subjects, promotes
the faith or belief system with which it is associated and/or 
presents the material taught through the lens of this faith.”
979 F. 3d 21, 38 (CA1 2020).  “The Department’s focus is on
what the school teaches through its curriculum and related 
activities, and how the material is presented.”   Ibid. (em-
phasis deleted).  “[A]ffiliation or association with a church 
or  religious  institution  is  one  potential  indicator  of  a  sec-
tarian school,” but “it is not dispositive.”  Ibid. 

B 

This  case  concerns  two  families  that  live  in  SAUs  that 
neither maintain their own secondary schools nor contract
with any nearby secondary school.  App. 70, 71.  Petitioners 
David and Amy Carson reside in Glenburn, Maine.  Id., at 
74.  When this litigation commenced, the Carsons’ daughter 
attended  high  school  at  Bangor  Christian  Schools  (BCS),
which was founded in 1970 as a ministry of Bangor Baptist 
Church.  Id., at 74, 80.  The Carsons sent their daughter to
BCS because of the school’s high academic standards and 
because the school’s Christian worldview aligns with their
sincerely held religious beliefs.  Id., at 74.  Given that BCS 
is a “sectarian” school that cannot qualify for tuition assis-
tance payments under Maine’s program, id., at 80, the Car-
sons  paid  the  tuition  for  their  daughter  to  attend  BCS 
themselves, id., at 74. 

Petitioners  Troy  and  Angela  Nelson  live  in  Palermo, 
Maine.  Id.,  at  78.  When  this  litigation  commenced,  the 
Nelsons’  daughter  attended  high  school  at  Erskine  Acad-
emy, a secular private school, and their son attended mid-
dle  school  at  Temple  Academy,  a  “sectarian”  school  affili-
ated with Centerpoint Community Church.  Id., at 78, 90, 
91.  The Nelsons sent their son to Temple Academy because