OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma County lawsuit challenging a Catholic charter school has been dropped following the school’s failed appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The upheld an Oklahoma Supreme Court decision against permitting the country’s first religious charter school to begin operating in the state with taxpayer funds.

While Catholic leaders, a small state agency and Attorney General Gentner Drummond , a separate lawsuit opposing the religious school . The coalition of local parents, faith leaders and public education advocates who filed the Oklahoma County case announced Monday they have their lawsuit in light of the higher court decisions.

The plaintiffs and their legal counsel — who include attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation — declared victory while dropping their case.

“We’re pleased that the courts stopped this direct assault on public education and religious freedom,” said Daniel Mach, of the ACLU. “ Public schools must remain secular and welcome all students, regardless of faith.”

The Oklahoma Parent Legislative Advocacy Coalition was the first plaintiff in the lawsuit. Chairperson Misty Bradley said the group is grateful for those who supported their case and for the attorney general’s “successful efforts to uphold Oklahoma’s constitution and protect its taxpayers and public schools.”

Officials from the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa first applied to open St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School in 2023. Later that year, the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board, a small state agency that oversaw online charter schools, approved the application to open St. Isidore, permitting it to operate with taxpayer funds.

St. Isidore would have offered an online education to students in all parts of the state. Although students of any religion or no faith could have attended the school, St. Isidore would have taught Catholic doctrine and functioned according to church beliefs.

The Oklahoma County lawsuit was the first to be filed against the school, followed by the attorney general’s request that the state Supreme Court intervene. The state Supreme Court that a religious charter school would be unconstitutional.

Both St. Isidore and the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case in May. 

The eight justices who heard the case deadlocked at 4-4, which allowed the state Supreme Court’s decision to stand.

Catholic leaders, who did not immediately comment on the Oklahoma County case Monday, said they are exploring other options to provide an online Catholic education.

Gov. Kevin Stitt, a supporter of St. Isidore, said the matter of publicly funded religious charter schools is “far from a settled issue” and suggested it would reach the U.S. Supreme Court again.

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Join The 74 and the Progressive Policy Institute at 2 p.m. ET Thursday for a special conversation about the pivotal case. 

PPI’s Curtis Valentine will lead a conversation with Richard Kahlenberg, Jason Zwara of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers and Eric Paisner of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools about the potential implications of the decision for charter school governance, state funding, church-state separation and educational equity.

Sign up for the Zoom or tune in to this page Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET to stream the event.

Recent school choice coverage from The 74: 

• In Case the School Choice World ‘Dreaded,’ Justices Appear Open to Religious Charters

• The Justice, the Professor and the Friendship That Could Rattle a Pivotal Religious Charter School Case
  
• Jeb Bush: Texas’ Education Savings Account Victory Can Set Nationwide Standard
  
• Opinion: Supreme Court Must Not Undermine Public Education in Religious Charter Case