Oklahoma Catholic charter school pledges to ‘fight’ Court ruling. State fails to void its contract.

The Board of Directors for St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, along with Tulsa Bishop David Konderla, second left, and Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley, third left, meet June 28, 2024, at the Diocese of Tulsa's Chancery Office. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)

BROKEN ARROW — Leaders of an Oklahoma Catholic charter school said they will “continue to fight” to open the school after the Oklahoma Supreme Court rejected their attempt to operate as a state-funded entity.

Meanwhile, a state board in Oklahoma City failed to comply with the state Supreme Court’s order to rescind the founding contract for St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. 

All three sitting members of the five-seat Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board needed to vote in favor of nullifying the contract for it to pass, but only two members did so. Gov. Kevin Stitt’s appointee to the board, Brian Shellem, abstained rather than taking a vote.

Board chairperson Robert Franklin said the result left him with a “heavy feeling” to not carry out the Court’s ruling. 

“That was my hope that we were going to be able to move that forward today — didn’t happen,” Franklin said afterward. “And so, the legal machinations that will evolve from here — I’m not really sure where it lands, to be honest with you.”

The Statewide Virtual Charter School Board is on the cusp of converting next month into the Statewide Charter School Board, which will oversee more types of charter schools, virtual and not. It will have a mostly new set of members appointed by the governor, legislative leaders, and the state auditor and inspector.

The matter of the Catholic charter contract will pass over to the new board, Franklin said.

“I guess the new board will have to pick this up and deal with it as it comes forward,” he said. “But I tried to do everything I could.”

St. Isidore’s Board of Directors met Friday at the Diocese of Tulsa’s Chancery Office to prepare its next steps. 

The board said it won’t accept any state funds for the school until July 1, 2025, at the earliest.

“Given the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s adverse ruling, the board confirms that the school will delay opening to students at least until the 2025-2026 school year, as it seeks review by the United States Supreme Court,” board member Harrison Garlick said while reading the board’s resolution aloud.

The state Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled it unconstitutional to open a state-funded religious school. St. Isidore students would be taught Catholic doctrine and required to attend mass.

None of the board members nor Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley and Tulsa Bishop David Konderla spoke with news media after their meeting Friday. Instead, they referred reporters to a statement posted to the school’s website.

The statement informs families interested in St. Isidore they will have to enroll elsewhere for the 2024-25 school year. More than 200 students had applied for enrollment, Catholic leaders said.

“We will continue to fight this decision and the unconstitutional discrimination against educators and families of faith, and we are currently in discussions with the legal team as to our next steps for appealing the decision,” the statement reads.

Attorneys defending St. Isidore contend charter schools, though they are publicly funded, are privately run and therefore aren’t subject to the same prohibition as public schools against adopting a religion.

Six of the nine justices disagreed. A majority of the Court found charter schools meet the same legal definitions as public schools, and therefore they are subject to the same statutory and constitutional obligations as public school districts.

“The Legislature created Oklahoma charter schools, and Oklahoma law treats them as public schools and governmental bodies,” Justice James R. Winchester wrote in the majority opinion. “… They are creatures of state law and may only operate under the authority graduated to them by their charters with the state. St. Isidore will be acting as a surrogate of the state in providing free public education as any other state-sponsored charter school.”

St. Isidore seeks to be a free, online school open to students statewide.

The Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approved the school’s application to become a publicly funded charter school in a 3-2 vote last year. The small state board, which oversees all virtual charter schools in Oklahoma, then issued St. Isidore a charter contract to formally establish it.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court ordered the state to rescind that contract, effectively blocking the school from opening.

“We believe this decision stands as an injustice against the many families who only desire a choice to pursue the education that is best for their own children,” St. Isidore’s statement reads. “And we will continue to work as faithful Catholic educators to help expand those choices for all Oklahoma families.”

A separate lawsuit a group of local parents, faith leaders and education advocates filed against St. Isidore and the state will continue in Oklahoma County District Court.

But in light of the Supreme Court decision, both sides of the case agreed on Thursday to put that lawsuit on hold until Feb. 1, with St. Isidore promising not to accept any state funds or attempt to open during the 2024-25 academic year, court documents show.

The plaintiffs are represented by multiple national legal organizations, including Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Americans United president and CEO, Rachel Laser, said the lawsuit raises issues the state Supreme Court’s ruling doesn’t address, such as questions of whether the school would discriminate on grounds of religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.

“We think that it is very unlikely that the U.S. Supreme Court would grant review of the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision and overturn it,” Laser said. “But even if it were to do so, we will still be able to prevent St. Isidore from operating and receiving state funding as a public charter school because our case is broader than the case before the Oklahoma Supreme Court.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to add new developments in the Oklahoma County District Court lawsuit over St. Isidore.

Reporter Kennedy Thomason contributed to this report.

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