Attorneys for St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Friday to issue a stay of its order that a state board rescind its contract with the charter school, while acknowledging that such a stay wouldn’t allow the school to open for the 2024-25 academic year.
The request was made in a court filing three days before the new Statewide Charter School Board is set to consider – during its first meeting – how to handle the situation involving St. Isidore.
The state Supreme Court issued its ruling June 25, ordering the new board’s predecessor, the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board, to rescind its contract with St. Isidore. But three days later, in the final meeting of that board before its dissolution, it failed to take action on the court order. The old board’s legal responsibilities now fall to the new board, which began operating July 1.
St. Isidore wants the stay to be in effect “until the expiration of time” for the school to file an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, or, if such an appeal is filed, “until notice of final disposition by the U.S. Supreme Court.”
St. Isidore’s attorneys said in the court filing the requested stay would be limited and “would not permit St. Isidore to open to children or allow state charter-school funding to go to St. Isidore while review by the U.S. Supreme Court is sought. The limited stay would simply preserve the current contract in the event the U.S. Supreme Court reverses.”
In its filing, St. Isidore said the request is merited for two reasons – it would allow the school to “not lose the benefit of the contract” or have to “execute a replacement contract” if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the state Supreme Court’s ruling, and the rescission of the contract isn’t necessary “to give practical effect” to the state court’s decision.
“The U.S. Supreme Court is also reasonably likely to grant review,” St. Isidore’s attorneys wrote in the filing, noting the state court’s opinion “hinged on its determination that St. Isidore is a state actor – a question that currently divides other courts.”
A spokesman for Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who filed the lawsuit against St. Isidore, referred a reporter to previous statements issued by that office. The most recent of those statements was issued on the day of the state Supreme Court’s ruling and called the decision “a tremendous victory for religious liberty. … While I understand that the Governor and other politicians are disappointed with this outcome, I hope that the people of Oklahoma can rejoice that they will not be compelled to fund radical religious schools that violate their faith.”
By a 3-2 vote last October, the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approved the creation of St. Isidore and Drummond quickly sued, saying such an agreement was unconstitutional. The state court heard oral arguments in the case on April 2 and in its decision, it ordered the state board to rescind the contract.
Attorneys for the state board and St. Isidore argued the school, which would be the nation’s first Catholic virtual charter school, would actually be a private entity, and not a public school. They said not allowing St. Isidore to receive public funds like Oklahoma’s other charter schools would amount to religious discrimination that would violate the U.S. Constitution.
In his opinion, Justice James Winchester disagreed, saying the contract between the state board and St. Isidore violates the Oklahoma Constitution, the Oklahoma Charter Schools Act and the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The state Supreme Court noted that under Oklahoma law, a charter school is a public school. The case is being eyed closely due to its religious overtones and potential for a precedent-setting ruling.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, which operates the school along with the Diocese of Tulsa, has said because of the time it will take for an appeal to work through the court system, St. Isidore will not open as planned for the 2024-25 school year. The archdiocese has said more than 200 applications for the school have been received.
As a result of the state Supreme Court's decision, a second lawsuit against St. Isidore, filed in Oklahoma County District Court by a group of taxpayers, has been stayed until at least Feb. 1 by District Judge Richard Ogden.
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