Supreme Court takes up Oklahoma effort to create nation's first public religious charter school

The Supreme Court agreed Friday to consider reviving an effort to create the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school.

In what is set to become a major case implicating religious rights, the justices said they would consider an appeal of an Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that has blocked the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School from opening.

Friday’s order sets a briefing schedule enabling the case to potentially be heard this term, which would culminate in a decision by early summer.

The order also indicated Justice Amy Coney Barrett, one of President Trump’s appointees, recused herself from the case but provided no explanation.

Both the school and Oklahoma’s charter school board appealed to the justices, saying the opinion was “riddled with missteps that effectively nullify this Court’s decisions” on religious rights.

“The decision below poses an existential threat to the charter-school project,” the board’s petition read.

The Supreme Court’s agreement to take up the case continues a windy road of approvals and rejections for the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School as it aimed to become the first public religious charter school in the U.S.

The school was originally rejected by Oklahoma’s charter school board in April 2023 but was approved months later after the school fixed some issues in its application.

The victory was short lived, though, after Oklahoma’s Republican attorney general, Gentner Drummond, sued and took the case to the state Supreme Court where the justices ruled the school unconstitutional.

“Because it is a governmental entity and a state actor, St. Isidore cannot ignore the mandates of the Establishment Clause, yet a central component of St. Isidore’s educational philosophy is to establish and operate the school as a Catholic school,” the court wrote in its decision.

Drummond’s office told the nation’s highest court to let the ruling stand, saying it rested on adequate and independent state law grounds and was a first-of-its-kind case.

“The Court would benefit from permitting this issue to percolate through the lower courts,” they wrote in court filings.

In its fight to open the school, the board was represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal powerhouse that has notched significant wins before the conservative-majority court in recent years.

Its appeal was backed by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R), Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters, a coalition of eight Republican states led by South Carolina and various religious freedom groups.

Even among the charter school movement, the virtual religious institution has seen opposition from groups such as the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

In a rare move, the group filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to turn away the appeal. Since the justices are more likely to grant a case if they believe it poses an important legal question, groups typically refrain from filing such briefs to avoid drawing attention to a case.

“The Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision reassures all Oklahoma families that their students’ constitutional rights are not sacrificed when they choose to attend a public charter school,” Eric Paisner, acting CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, said in October.

Topics

Quebec’s Ban on Religious Symbols Will Be Tested at the Supreme Court

Canada’s highest court will decide whether a law that Quebec enacted in 2019, barring public-sector workers from wearing religious symbols, violates their rights.
The New York Times - 1d
Supreme Court to weigh approval for 1st publicly funded religious charter school

The Supreme Court has agreed to take on a new culture war dispute: whether the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school should be allowed to open in Oklahoma
ABC News - 2d
Supreme Court to Hear Oklahoma Religious Charter School Case

The proposal to create the nation’s first religious charter school paid for by taxpayer funds could move the line between church and state in education.
The New York Times - 2d
Supreme Court to weigh approval for 1st publicly funded religious charter school

The Supreme Court will hear a case on whether the nation's first publicly funded religious charter school should be allowed to open in Oklahoma.
CBS News - 2d
Supreme Court grants new hearing for woman on Oklahoma death row

The Supreme Court has ordered lower courts to review the case of the only woman on Oklahoma's death row.
CBS News - 5d
Supreme Court to Hear Case on Religious Objections to L.G.B.T.Q. Storybooks

Parents in Maryland said a school board’s refusal to notify them and to excuse their children from discussions of the storybooks violated the First Amendment.
The New York Times - Jan. 18
Supreme Court takes up case over LGBTQ books in Maryland schools

The case involves whether parents' religious rights were violated when a Maryland school district declined to allow them to opt their children out of gender and sexuality instruction.
CBS News - Jan. 17
Supreme Court takes up parents' bid to opt out of LGBTQ content at elementary schools

The Supreme Court took up a dispute on the tensions between LGBT rights and religious rights by agreeing to hear a claim by parents in Maryland who objected to books in elementary school classrooms ...
NBC News - Jan. 17
Supreme Court takes up Biden's proposal to expand relief for borrowers defrauded by schools

The Supreme Court decided Friday to take up the Biden administration’s appeal defending its proposal to ease applications for the Borrower Defense student debt relief program. In a brief order, ...
The Hill - Jan. 10

Supreme Court takes up Oklahoma effort to create nation's first public religious charter school

Topics

Related

Quebec’s Ban on Religious Symbols Will Be Tested at the Supreme Court

Supreme Court to weigh approval for 1st publicly funded religious charter school

Supreme Court to Hear Oklahoma Religious Charter School Case

Supreme Court to weigh approval for 1st publicly funded religious charter school

Supreme Court grants new hearing for woman on Oklahoma death row

Supreme Court to Hear Case on Religious Objections to L.G.B.T.Q. Storybooks

Supreme Court takes up case over LGBTQ books in Maryland schools

Supreme Court takes up parents' bid to opt out of LGBTQ content at elementary schools

Supreme Court takes up Biden's proposal to expand relief for borrowers defrauded by schools

More from The Hill

Rubio orders suspension of visa issuance at the US Embassy Bogota

Johnson: 'Colombia and all nations should be on notice'

Israel-Lebanon ceasefire extended: White House

Colombian president orders increase of import tariffs on US goods after Trump order

Moreno says he will introduce legislation to sanction Colombia

More in Politics

Rubio orders suspension of visa issuance at the US Embassy Bogota

Johnson: 'Colombia and all nations should be on notice'

Israel-Lebanon ceasefire extended: White House

Elon Musk calls on Germany's far-right party to 'move beyond' Nazi guilt

Colombian president orders increase of import tariffs on US goods after Trump order