Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed a motion Monday opposing St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School's request for the Oklahoma Supreme Court to stay an order to rescind a state board's contract with the school.
Drummond submitted his response to the St. Isidore request a week ahead of the deadline the state Supreme Court set for him to do so, saying the school “fails to articulate how it will suffer irreparable harm absent a stay.”
St. Isidore had filed its request for a stay on July 5, asking the court to keep the contract 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 already has indicated it will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the state ruling.
St. Isidore has said the stay it was requesting 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 its request is merited for two reasons. First, 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 second, that rescission of the contract isn’t necessary “to give practical effect” to the state court’s decision.
Drummond pushed back on that argument, saying, “Simply being required to execute a new contract cannot possibly constitute irreparable harm. Regardless, any minimal inconvenience to (St. Isidore) related to executing a new contract is outweighed by the illegal contract’s injury to the State and its people.”
Drummond said that while St. Isidore has said on its website that it won’t open for the 2024-25 school year and isn’t currently taking applications, “this Motion mentions no impediment to planning and preparation for the 2025-2026 school year and beyond if a stay were granted.”
Lengthy legal battle for Oklahoma virtual charter school
St. Isidore is seeking to become the nation’s first Catholic virtual charter school. By a 3-2 vote last October, the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approved the creation of St. Isidore, and Drummond quickly filed a lawsuit, saying such an agreement was unconstitutional. The state Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case on April 2.
The court issued its ruling June 25, ordering the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board to rescind its contract with St. Isidore. But three days later, at its final meeting before its dissolution, that board failed to take action on the court order. The old board’s legal responsibilities have fallen to the Statewide Charter School Board, which began operating July 1.
At the new board’s first meeting on July 8, it also failed to take action on the court order, citing St. Isidore’s request for a stay and saying it wanted to let the legal issue play out. Last Thursday, Drummond sent a letter to the board’s executive director, Rebecca Wilkinson, and told her that his office would be providing legal counsel to the board going forward. Drummond also said the board must immediately follow the state Supreme Court’s order.
The St. Isidore case is being eyed closely due to its religious overtones and potential for a precedent-setting ruling. St. Isidore told the state court it believes the U.S. Supreme Court is “reasonably likely” to grant review of the state court’s order, but Drummond disagreed.
“(A)ny appeal of this court’s decision to the U.S. Supreme Court is futile,” he said, because neither St. Isidore nor the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board requested that the state court find the Oklahoma Constitution to be in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
There is no indication as to when the state Supreme Court might issue a ruling on the St. Isidore request.
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