Oklahoma school board rescinds contract for Catholic charter school

CNA Staff, Aug 13, 2024 / 14:25 pm

The Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board on Monday unanimously rescinded the contract for what would have been the nation’s first religious charter school. 

St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School would have been the first religious charter school in the nation, but in late June the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled against its establishment and ordered the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board to drop the Catholic institution’s contract. A charter school is a privately run, publicly funded school. 

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a Republican who has opposed the school on religious freedom grounds, requested the Oklahoma school board rescind the contract or face contempt charges. 

“While it is appalling that the Statewide Charter School 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 in a statement Monday.

St. Isidore has appealed the decision to the United States Supreme Court and requested a stay of the court order for the duration of the legal process, but the request was denied last week. 

Meanwhile, the Virtual Charter School Board — which has since been incorporated into the Statewide Charter School Board — delayed rescinding the contract pending the outcome of the appeal. The school board had met two times previously without complying with the court order to rescind the contract.

The board rescinded the contract on Monday but voted that St. Isidore’s contract would be immediately reinstated if a court were to reverse or nullify the current orders.

While Drummond and others argue that funding the school with taxpayers’ money would violate religious freedom, proponents of St. Isidore argue that rescinding its contract violates religious freedom. 

“The proposed state-sponsored religious charter school, funded by our tax dollars, represents a serious threat to the religious liberty of all Oklahomans,” Drummond said. 

A 2022 Supreme Court ruling found that Maine couldn’t exclude religious schools from a tuition aid program because it violates the free exercise clause. Other states have established voucher systems allowing tuition aid for students to attend private religious schools.

One proponent of St. Isidore’s, Oklahoma state superintendent Ryan Walters — who recently mandated using the Bible as a historical document in schools  — called the decision “shameful.”

“The Oklahoma Supreme Court has failed Oklahomans in their latest dismal ruling against parents and kids,” he said in a statement Monday. 

“They have chosen the path of liberal extremism and Marxism by depriving parents of a choice,” Walters continued. “It’s shameful but predictable from a failed judicial system. They do not represent conservative Oklahoma values.”

St. Isidore is currently working with attorneys from the Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic, formerly the Notre Dame Religious Liberty Clinic, part of the Notre Dame Law School Religious Liberty Initiative, to appeal the decision. 

Clinic director John Meiser told CNA in an email that these developments “have not altered St. Isidore's plans or its commitment to bringing the best educational opportunities possible to communities across Oklahoma.”

“We continue to work to ensure that the school will be able to fulfill this worthy mission and to remedy the Oklahoma Supreme Court's errant decision condoning discrimination against religious educators,’ he said in the statement. 

St. Isidore was initially set to launch in August as an online, tuition-free, Catholic K–12 charter school managed by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa, with 200 students registered to start in the fall.

This article was updated on Aug. 13, 2024.