The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond, a case that could set precedent for religious schools’ access to public funds.
The case will determine whether a state violates the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause by excluding privately run religious schools from the state’s publicly funded charter school program. It will also decide whether a private religious school’s curriculum and practices are considered “state action” because the state funds the school's free education.
St. Isidore — which is to be run by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa — was set to open for the 2024-25 school year as a virtual school, but did not do so due to the ongoing litigation around its constitutionality. Had it opened, it would have been the nation’s first religious charter school.
The Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approved the school’s contract in 2023 in a 3-2 vote. At the time, board members acknowledged the decision to be controversial and said they expected litigation whichever way their vote went.
That contract was ultimately severed in August 2024 following an Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that found the school would violate the state’s constitution and the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. The contract could, however, be reinstated depending on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett plans to recuse herself from the case. No date has been set for oral arguments.
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