The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday effectively blocked the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, from receiving state funds. In a 4-4 deadlock, the justices affirmed an Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that found the school’s contract unconstitutional. Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case, leading to the equally divided court.
The Court issued no written opinion, only a brief statement: “The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court.” This decision leaves in place the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s determination that approving St. Isidore as a state-funded charter school violated the Oklahoma Constitution and the First Amendment’s establishment clause, which prohibits government endorsement of religion.
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The case, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond, centered on a contract approved by the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board that would have allowed St. Isidore, backed by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa, to operate as a Catholic virtual charter school. This contract recognized specific religious rights for St. Isidore, diverging from the standard expectation under Oklahoma law that charter schools remain nonsectarian.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a Republican, had sued the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board to invalidate the contract. The state’s highest court sided with Drummond, ruling that charter schools are state actors and therefore cannot be overtly religious.
The Supreme Court had agreed to examine two key questions: whether the educational decisions of a privately owned and operated school constitute state action due to its contract with the state, and whether the First Amendment’s free exercise clause prohibits, or the establishment clause requires, a state to exclude religious schools from its charter school program. The 4-4 split means these broader constitutional questions remain unresolved at the national level.
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Justice Barrett’s recusal is reportedly due to her prior affiliation with the University of Notre Dame Law School’s religious liberty clinic, which provided legal services to St. Isidore.
Following the Supreme Court’s announcement, Attorney General Drummond reiterated his stance.
In a statement on X, Drummond said, “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.”
Supporters of St. Isidore had argued that excluding the school from the charter program based on its religious character amounted to discrimination.
Opponents, including organizations like Americans United for Separation of Church and State, lauded the outcome as a victory for the separation of church and state and public education.
The future of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School as a publicly funded entity in Oklahoma is now effectively ended by this ruling. The case was closely watched for its potential to reshape the landscape of religious education and public funding nationwide. However, the split decision by the Supreme Court means no new federal precedent has been set.
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