OKLAHOMA CITY — The Freedom From Religion Foundation is part of a coalition of groups representing nine Oklahoma residents and a pro-public school nonprofit filing a lawsuit today in Oklahoma state court challenging the nation’s first religious public charter school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School.
Joining FFRF in the coalition are Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Education Law Center, who represent the plaintiffs in OKPLAC Inc. v. Statewide Virtual Charter School Board. They are assisted by Oklahoma-based counsel Odom & Sparks PLLC and J. Douglas Mann.
The plaintiffs are faith leaders, public school parents and public education advocates who object to their tax dollars funding a public charter school that will discriminate against students and families based on their religion and LGBTQ-plus status, fail to adequately serve students with disabilities, and indoctrinate students into one religion — all in violation of Oklahoma law and our country’s promises of the separation of church and state and public schools that are open to all.
The lawsuit demonstrates that the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board violated the Oklahoma Constitution, the Oklahoma Charter Schools Act and the board’s own regulations when it approved St. Isidore’s application for charter-school sponsorship on June 5. Reasons that the application was unlawful include:
- St. Isidore plans to discriminate in its policies and practices based on religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and other protected characteristics. Students could be denied admission, disciplined or even expelled if they or their family members are LGBTQ-plus, a different religious faith, or do not otherwise conform to certain Catholic religious beliefs.
- St. Isidore reserves the right to discriminate against students on the basis of disability and failed to show that it would provide adequate services to students with disabilities.
- St. Isidore plans to provide a religious education and indoctrinate its students in Catholic religious beliefs. The school’s application states that the school will “participate in the evangelizing mission of the [Catholic] Church” and will fully incorporate the Church’s teachings “into every aspect of the School,” including “all subjects” taught and all activities offered.
- The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City will have control over the school in violation of board regulations that require a charter school to be independent of its educational management organization.
The plaintiffs are asking the District Court of Oklahoma County to block (1) St. Isidore from operating as a charter school, (2) the charter school board from entering into or implementing any contracts with St. Isidore and (3) the state from funding St. Isidore.
The plaintiffs in OKPLAC Inc. v. Statewide Virtual Charter School Board include OKPLAC Inc. (Oklahoma Parent Legislative Action Committee), Melissa Abdo, Krystal Bonsall, Leslie Briggs, Brenda Lené, Michele Medley, Dr. Bruce Prescott, the Rev. Dr. Mitch Randall, the Rev. Dr. Lori Walke, and Erika Wright. (Detailed descriptions of the plaintiffs are available here.)
“It’s unconscionable for the state of Oklahoma to approve funding for an overtly sectarian religious school, whose purposes are to promote Catholicism, not public education,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “This attack on our secular public education system cannot go unchallenged.”
Additional quotes from the organizations sponsoring the lawsuit and the plaintiffs are available here.
Defendants in the lawsuit are the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board; its five members; the Oklahoma State Department of Education; State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters; and St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School, Inc.
The team of attorneys that represents the plaintiffs is led by Patrick Elliott of FFRF; Alex J. Luchenitser and Kenneth D. Upton, Jr. of Americans United and includes Kalli A. Joslin of Americans United; Daniel Mach and Heather L. Weaver of the ACLU; Robert Kim, Jessica Levin, and Wendy Lecker of the Education Law Center; Benjamin H. Odom, John H. Sparks, Michael W. Ridgeway, and Lisa M. Millington of Odom & Sparks; and J. Douglas Mann.
Resources:
A copy of the lawsuit complaint.
Media kit that includes photos and descriptions of the plaintiffs.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 40,000 members across the country. Our purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism. Learn more at www.ffrf.org.
