Bible before bucks. That is essentially the stance at Cypress Christian School, a highly rated private Christian campus in northwest Houston that hosted Gov. Greg Abbott for a pro-voucher rally in 2023. Despite that high-profile appearance, the school now says it will not participate in Texas’ new state education-savings program because leaders argue accepting public funds would threaten the school's ability to enforce what they call “biblical rule.” The position surfaced in a private recording shared with families and obtained by reporters this year.
In a private video obtained and reported by the Houston Chronicle, Kris Hogan, the school's director of culture, said the school's bylaws require that parts of the school “be governed exclusively by biblical doctrine and scripture” and warned that the Texas Education Freedom Accounts would create “ongoing government entanglement” that the school could not accept. The school's president, Jeff Potts, who holds a doctorate in education from Liberty University, had hosted Abbott for the March 2023 rally that promoted the voucher push, as reported by the Houston Chronicle.
The TEFA program was created by the Legislature in Senate Bill 2 and is being administered by the Texas Comptroller’s office as a state education-choice initiative funded with roughly $1 billion for its launch. According to the Comptroller, families accepted into TEFA are slated to receive about $10,474 per participating student for the 2026–27 school year, and the family application window opened Feb. 4 and runs through March 17, per the Texas Comptroller.
School leaders insist their concern is less about the dollars than the oversight they fear could follow: audits, public-records requests, new testing requirements, or admissions rules that might someday conflict with the school's beliefs. The private recording, which the school circulated to families, spells out those worries in detail. Hogan also pointed to legal fights in other states, including Colorado, where appeals courts have recently weighed whether faith-based preschools participating in public programs must abide by nondiscrimination rules, as reported by KUNC.
At the same time, the Texas Education Agency has published guidance on SB2 implementation that underscores the law's protections for private-school autonomy while also flagging areas where TEA rulemaking and technical guidance are still coming. The guidance shows the agency is working through details on special-education interactions and other compliance topics, which leaves some of the program's boundaries subject to administrative rulemaking. Texas Education Agency
Notably, Cypress Christian appears to be one of the stops on Abbott’s 2023 tour that has not applied to TEFA. The Houston Chronicle reports at least four schools the governor visited have yet to join the program, including Park Meadows Academy in Corsicana and Kingdom Life Academy in Tyler, while First Odessa Christian Academy closed last year. That mixed response complicates the narrative that the law would quickly convert most prominent faith-based campuses into TEFA participants.
For families weighing options, the Comptroller’s TEFA site includes a searchable list of participating schools and other resources, and the agency has published timelines and award estimates to help parents plan. The Texas Private Schools Association has praised SB2's language protecting religious liberty and private-school autonomy, but advocates and critics alike say the debate over oversight and accountability will shape whether more faith-based schools sign on; see the Texas Comptroller and the Texas Private Schools Association for program details and advocacy views.
Legal Questions Keep Faith-Based Schools On Edge
The Colorado litigation and recent appellate rulings show courts are still sorting out how nondiscrimination requirements interact with religious claims when public money is involved, so legal precedent could shift over time. Texas' own rulemaking process, which is spelled out in TEA guidance and the comptroller's administrative rules, means some disputes over oversight, audits, and documentation may be decided administratively or in court after TEFA is underway. Chalkbeat and official releases from the Texas Education Agency are useful places to track those developments.
