Divided Supreme Court affirms ruling against Okla. Catholic charter school

May 23, 2025

In a 4-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed an Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling against the creation of what would have been the first taxpayer-funded religious charter school.

The Christian Post reports that the nation’s high court, in a per curiam opinion released on Thursday, voted 4-4 to affirm Oklahoma’s Supreme Court ruling against the establishment of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case due to having close personal ties to Nicole Stelle Garnett who has been an advisor to St. Isidore.

Republican Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond tweeted shortly after the decision was released, saying, “The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of my position that we should not allow taxpayer funding of radical Islamic schools here in Oklahoma. I am proud to have fought against this potential cancer in our state, and I will continue upholding the law, protecting our Christian values and defending religious liberty.”

The school was first approved in June 2023, by the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board which voted 3-2 to green light the creation of St. Isidore.

Progressive groups filed a lawsuit in July of 2023 with Attorney General Drummond filing a complaint against the board in Oct. 2023.

According to the Christian Post, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled 7-1 against the religious charter school, saying that approval of the Catholic school violated the state constitution.

While the school board rescinded the contract for St. Isidore, they also filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court, which agreed in January 2025 to hear the combined cases of Oklahoma Charter School Board, et al. v. Drummond, Attorney General of Oklahoma and St. Isidore of Seville School v. Drummond, Attorney General of Oklahoma.

Alliance Defending Freedom Chief Legal Counsel Jim Campbell argued on behalf of St. Isidore, telling the Supreme Court, “when a state creates a public program and invites private actors, it can’t exclude people or groups because they’re religious.”

Campbell added, “The Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board is committed to this principle of religious neutrality. That’s why it approved St. Isidore’s application based on the strength of its proposal, refusing to reject the group because of its faith.”

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