The Catholic church in Oklahoma is bankrolling the startup of what could be the nation’s first religious charter school, even as the fates of two lawsuits aiming to prevent the school from opening loom large.
Rather than receiving government funds or nonprofit grants for charter school startup costs, St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School secured a line of credit of up to $500,000 total from the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa and has already begun drawing on it for staffing and other startup costs, an Archdiocese spokesman told the Tulsa World.
The school’s governing board, which includes Catholic church leaders from Tulsa and Oklahoma City, has already selected a school principal to begin work July 1 and is in the process of hiring teachers.
Student enrollment currently stands at 218 from kindergarten through 12th grade — 44% of St. Isidore’s initial 500-student capacity allowed during each of its first three years of operation.
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“St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School stands committed to meeting the obligations of the charter that has been approved by both parties and is in preparation for the August start date,” reads a written statement from the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. “The strong initial enrollment is encouraging and demonstrates what has been known about the demand for this type of school.”
While proponents plow full-steam ahead, challenges to St. Isidore’s establishment are underway on two separate legal fronts – and both have the potential to prevent the school’s planned opening for students on Aug. 12.
State Supreme Court ruling imminent
The securing of state sanctioning and public dollars for St. Isidore, which is unabashed in its offering of religious teachings, policies and hiring practices, is viewed nationally as a possible test case of separation of church and state laws that could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond went to the Oklahoma Supreme Court to try to reverse what he believes to be “unlawful action” by the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board, which agreed to provide St. Isidore with state sanctioning and taxpayer funding appropriated for public education.
Drummond slammed the deal for a religious charter school as an “irreparable violation of our individual religious liberty” and “unthinkable waste of our tax dollars.”
The Oklahoma Supreme Court, which heard arguments in the case in early April, could rule any day now.
The Office of the Attorney General told the Tulsa World it is eagerly anticipating a favorable ruling before the state of Oklahoma distributes any taxpayer funds to St. Isidore.
“With public education funding for the upcoming school year slated to begin July 1, we are hopeful the State Supreme Court will render its decision soon. Parents and guardians need clarity as they consider whether to enroll their children in a school that unequivocally violates the state and United States constitutions,” said an AG office spokesman.
District court case allowed to proceed
Taxpayer challengers scored a victory last week in Oklahoma County District Court when a judge denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss a lawsuit aiming to block St. Isidore from operating as a charter school and any state aid or other state funding for it.
The Oklahoma Parent Legislative Action Coalition, or OKPLAC, a nonprofit, nonpartisan statewide organization, and nine additional plaintiffs, which include faith leaders, public school parents and public education advocates who are all Oklahoma taxpayers, are receiving legal support from at least three national church-state separation advocacy groups – Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, American Civil Liberties Union, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, as well as the Education Law Center.
“Oklahoma law is clear: Charter schools are public schools that must be secular and welcome all students. Oklahoma taxpayers, including our plaintiffs, should not be forced to financially support St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School, which plans to discriminate against students, families and staff and indoctrinate students into one religion,” the plaintiffs’ statement said after the Wednesday court ruling. “Our lawsuit aims to protect public education, the separation of church and state, and all Oklahomans’ religious freedom by preventing St. Isidore from receiving state funds or operating as a public charter school.”
The taxpayer group has also filed for temporary injunction and a judge has set a hearing for July 24 – mere days before the first annual distribution of state aid funds by the Oklahoma State Department of Education to school districts and charter schools could occur for the 2024-25 academic year.
Oklahoma Catholic church leaders have maintained that charter schools are actually private schools and denying them access to such government funding to open one to provide greater access to Catholic school education across the state would violate their right to free exercise of religion.
They have been assisted throughout their application process by attorneys with the Notre Dame Law School Religious Liberty Initiative Clinic.
The district court litigation steers clear of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, which prohibits the government from making any law respecting an establishment of religion.
Instead, its claims are based on Oklahoma’s state constitution, the Oklahoma Charter School Act and the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board’s own regulations, which is why the case was filed in state, rather than federal court.
Dismissed Wednesday was one of the plaintiffs’ four claims – that St. Isidore has failed to certify that it will comply with state law, including nondiscrimination requirements.
The plaintiffs were given 20 days to amend and resubmit the claim, but their lead attorney said they are undecided about taking that step, or about seeking a stay of the district court case altogether if a high court ruling comes down this summer in the second legal challenge against St. Isidore.
“Those are matters that we are discussing internally,” Alex Luchenitser, associate vice president and associate legal director at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, told the Tulsa World.
Remaining claims in the case are:
- St. Isidore intends to discriminate in admissions, discipline and employment on the basis of religion, gender identity and morality.
- Some students with disabilities will be unable to adequately be served by St. Isidore’s proposed instructional mode.
- And the school’s intention to teach a religious curriculum, including church theology, violates the state constitution and the Oklahoma Charter Schools Act.
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