(Update: About two hours after publication of this article, Attorney General Gentner Drummond submitted a filing — embedded below — with the Oklahoma Supreme Court informing the court of the Statewide Charter School Board’s refusal to comply with the court’s St. Isidore order and requesting an additional writ of mandamus requiring the board to rescind its contract with the Catholic school or “face a contempt citation.” The article below remains in its original form.)
In a tense meeting this morning, members of the Statewide Charter School Board chose not to cancel a contract with St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School despite an Oklahoma Supreme Court order to do so. The board also voted to pursue an appeal of that same ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court and retain outside legal counsel for all matters, contrary to Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s wishes and advice.
Chairman Brian Shellem, who was appointed to the board by Gov. Kevin Stitt, spent much of the meeting discussing St. Isidore and urging members to pursue an appeal.
“I respectfully disagree with the majority opinion. I do want to [appeal] this matter because I think it is a matter that will not just impact Oklahoma but will impact our nation,” Shellem said during the meeting. “When we look at what has been going on — the fear that seems to be resonating about this notion that there is not a God, and that seems to be what the permeating religion is in the public square — I would ask what are the results? Since 1962 and Engel v. Vitale — (when) we kicked God out of school — are we better today in our education system than we were then?”
Tuesday’s board vote came as leaders of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School have also indicated their intention to file an appeal. Any appeal of the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision would have to be made to the U.S. Supreme Court, which would then decide whether to take up the case or leave the Oklahoma court’s decision intact.
“To my knowledge, St. Isidore has indicated they are going to [pursue an appeal],” Shellem said just before the vote. “With this motion, we would more than likely join those efforts.”
To that end, the board voted to retain Oklahoma attorney Cheryl Plaxico and the national law firm Alliance Defending Freedom as it appeals the Oklahoma Supreme Court decision. The board’s predecessor body, the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board, had previously retained Plaxico and ADF for all St. Isidore litigation. The SVCSB was dissolved June 30 and replaced with the SCSB.
In addition to ADF and Plaxico, the board voted to retain Hall Estill attorney Dan Carsey for other board matters. Carsey had also represented the SVCSB. The vote comes as The Oklahoman reported that Attorney General Gentner Drummond sent a letter denying Carsey’s representation of the board June 28.
During the meeting, Assistant Attorney General Thomas Schneider was largely barred from giving the board legal advice, and the votes to retain outside legal counsel were directly contradictory to his advice. The attorney general’s office typically provides legal counsel for many smaller government boards.
“My advice to you — and I emailed last week — was that this agenda item was vague, and it would not pass muster under the Open Meeting Act, so I would exercise caution,” Schneider said. “It does not specify what type of legal counsel that you are seeking. Are you seeking it for litigation? It doesn’t name the case, it doesn’t name the appeal, it also does not name the purposes for which the legal services are going to be requested.”
Schneider’s advice was followed by accusations of bias from Shellem.
“It’s interesting, Thomas, because I think that, in my opinion — because I sought other counsel, including my own personal attorneys in regards to this — is the AG’s office in opposition to this would gain actually an advantage by us not having counsel for the next two weeks,” Shellem said. “And I think that counsel seems to be biased rather than objective in providing counsel to this board.”
Drummond has been staunchly opposed to St. Isidore and the board’s contract with the proposed Catholic charter school, filing the case that eventually lead to the state Supreme Court ruling the proposed school as unconstitutional. If St. Isidore opens, it would likely be the first religious charter school in the nation, which Drummond has said would be tantamount to the state declaring a religion. Charter schools are public school that can be run by private management organizations.
Board members pointed out Drummond’s stance as Schneider attempted to provide advice. Schneider said there is an “active screening memo” in place preventing him from having any knowledge of his office’s efforts opposing St. Isidore.
Board declines to cancel contract with St. Isidore
Following weeks of uncertainty about whether the board would comply with the state Supreme Court’s ruling amid pressure from Drummond to do so, members voted Thursday to table action on the board’s contract with St. Isidore “until such time that all litigation related to St. Isidore is concluded.”
In a statement sent after the meeting, Drummond excoriated board members for their decision not to cancel the contract while pursuing an appeal.
“Every Oklahoman should be outraged by the board’s blatant hostility toward religious liberty,” Drummond said. “Rather than acting to protect religious liberty, they are recklessly committed to using our tax dollars to fund radical religious teachings like Sharia law. I will continue to protect the religious liberty of all four million Oklahomans by upholding their constitutional rights.”
Board member Ben Lepak, who was appointed by House Speaker Charles McCall (R-Atoka), made the tabling motion and many others throughout the meeting. He also made many of the arguments against allowing Schneider to provide counsel to the board.
Shellem argued that the contract needed to stay in place to give the board “standing” to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Becky Gooch, who works for and was appointed by state Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat (R-OKC), voted against maintaining the contract and pursuing the appeal.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters attended Tuesday’s meeting in person. Although he holds a seat on the new board under state law, he is allowed to send a designee, which he did for the board’s first meeting July 8.
Walters was largely quiet during Tuesday’s meeting, letting Shellem and Lepak take the lead on the various votes. Before the board voted to appeal the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s ruling, Walters said the board would “protect faith” with its vote.
“You see Christian faith — Catholic faith — under assault throughout our country. What we have the ability to do here today is to protect religious liberty and protect options for the families of Oklahoma. I think you have some leaders in the state that made it very clear: They prefer to have atheism championed in our schools and run every other faith out the door,” Walters said. “I believe for the families of Oklahoma, it is essential that we challenge the Oklahoma Supreme Court, we advance this issue to the U.S. Supreme Court on the basis of protecting religious liberty and protecting those school choice options for the families of Oklahoma.”
Read Drummond’s Supreme Court filing
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