Legal fight over first-ever Catholic charter school turns to Supreme Court
The Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling and allow for the approval of the nation's first faith-based charter school.
At issue is the previous approval of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which, if launched, would be the first religious charter school in the United States.
In a petition for a writ of certiorari filed Monday, the school board asked the high court to take up the case of Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board, et al. v. Drummond, citing religious liberty concerns.
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"Respondent, the Oklahoma Attorney General, says his State can exclude religious charter schools because state law labels them 'public school[s] established by contract' — and that label somehow transforms a privately owned and operated school's religious education into state action by a state entity," read the petition.
"The Oklahoma Supreme Court accepted that argument. … That ruling violates this Court's recent cases. And the underlying state-action ruling implicates a circuit split even Respondent agrees this Court should resolve."
The school board is represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal group that has won several First Amendment cases at the U.S. Supreme Court level.
ADF Senior Counsel Phil Sechler said in a statement Monday that he believes "Oklahoma parents and children are better off with more choices, not fewer."
"There's great irony in state officials who claim to be in favor of religious liberty discriminating against St. Isidore because of its Catholic beliefs," stated Sechler.
"Protecting the freedom of St. Isidore and other charter schools to operate according to their beliefs bolsters religious freedom across Oklahoma, which is why we are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take this important case."
In June 2023, the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted 3-2 to approve the charter application for St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which was to be overseen by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa.
However, progressive groups and Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond objected to the approval of the religious charter school, with Drummond filing a complaint against the board last October.
Additionally, liberal advocacy groups filed suit last year, naming as defendants the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board, individual board members, the Oklahoma Department of Education, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters and Saint Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School, Inc.
In June, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled 7-1 against the charter school, with the majority opinion concluding that the approval of the school violated the state constitution.
"The framers' intent is clear: the state is prohibited from using public money for the 'use, benefit or support of a sect or system of religion,'" read the opinion. "The St. Isidore Contract violates the plain terms of Article 2, Section 5 of the Oklahoma Constitution."
"Enforcing the St. Isidore Contract would create a slippery slope and what the framers' warned against — the destruction of Oklahomans' freedom to practice religion without fear of governmental intervention."
Justice Dana Kuehn argued in a dissenting opinion that the approved religious charter school "would not become a 'state actor' merely by contracting with the state to provide a choice in educational opportunities."
"By allowing St. Isidore to operate a virtual charter school, the state would not be establishing, aiding, or favoring any particular religious organization," wrote Kuehn.
"Excluding private entities from contracting for functions, based solely on religious affiliation, would violate the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution."
In August, per an order from the state supreme court, the charter school board unanimously voted to rescind the contract for St. Isidore, with Drummond celebrating the decision in a statement released at the time.
"While it is appalling that the Board took so long to recognize the authority of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, I am pleased that board members finally fulfilled their duty," Drummond said.
"The proposed state-sponsored religious school, funded by our tax dollars, represents a serious threat to the religious liberty of all four million Oklahomans."
