CV NEWS FEED// Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has announced it will ask the Supreme Court to hear Drummond v. Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board, the case regarding Oklahoma’s first virtual Catholic charter school.
As CatholicVote previously reported, the Supreme Court of Oklahoma declared that St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School could not operate as a charter school, since its Catholic nature made it ineligible for public funding.
The school, however, had already been approved by Oklahoma’s Statewide Virtual Charter School Board to receive public funding. After the Oklahoma Supreme Court decision, a new state charter school board, the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board, refused to cooperate with the ruling to cancel the contract and kept St. Isidore of Seville’s contract on hold.
Phil Sechler, a senior counsel at the ADF, made the following statement:
The U.S. Constitution protects St. Isidore’s freedom to operate according to its faith and supports the board’s decision to approve such learning options for Oklahoma families. Protecting the freedom of St. Isidore and other charter schools to operate according to their beliefs bolsters religious freedom across Oklahoma, which is why we will be appealing this case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Last year, ADF attorneys represented the Statewide Charter School Board and filed a brief to the Oklahoma Supreme Court in opposition to Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s petition to cancel St. Isidore’s contract.
