OK Co. judge moves St. Isidore lawsuit forward, denies motion to dismiss

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — An Oklahoma County judge has denied the motion to dismiss three out of four of the claims made against the nation's first ever taxpayer funded religious charter school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School.

In June, the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approved St. Isidore in a 3-2 vote.

The Oklahoma Parent Legislative Action Committee filed a lawsuit almost two months later. The committee is comprised of parents, education advocates, and faith leaders.

The lawsuit was filed in the District Court of Oklahoma County in an attempt to freeze St. Isidore’s funding and restrict business between the school and the charter school board.

The filing makes four claims:

• St. Isidore's application to the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board does not follow Oklahoma law.
• St. Isidore will discriminate in student admissions, student discipline, and employment based on religion, sexual orientation, discipline, gender identity, and other prohibited grounds.
• St. Isidore has not committed to fully serving students with disabilities as required by the Charter Schools Act and asserts a right to discriminate against those students.
• St. Isidore will teach a religious curriculum and indoctrinate students in Catholic religious beliefs.

The judge asked an attorney for the Oklahoma Parent Legislative Action Committee, Alex Luchenitser if he had any evidence of discrimination so far. He said while he doesn't, discovery would allow him to present more.

Attorneys for the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, and the Oklahoma State Department of Education filed a motion to dismiss all four claims.

An attorney for St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, Philip Sechler said the Plaintiffs lack legal standing and cause of action.

"[The Plaintiffs] have no connection to the school," argued Sechler.

Meanwhile, Luchenitser said his clients are taxpayers which gives them a right to bring legal action.

"That's not enough for them," stated an attorney representing OSDE in this case, Hiram Sasser. "If you're going to bring a case in court, you have to have both standing and a cause of action. You have to have standing: your ticket. And then you have to put your riders on the bus to go to the courthouse. That's your cause of action. Unfortunately for the plaintiffs, they don't have these things."

Luchenitser and his team argue if the case were to be dismissed, it would "eviscerate taxpayer rights."

As to claim one in the lawsuit stating St. Isidore's application to the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board does not follow Oklahoma law, Sechler said the school has done everything it can to show it will abide by the law.

An argument often heard in the court room Wednesday morning is St. Isidore is a private entity, not a state actor, meaning board members are private citizens and not public officials in the eyes of those representing the school.

"It's plainly a public school. Charter schools are public schools. They're defined as public schools. They have numerous of the same characteristics as public schools. Do they have various rights that other governmental entities do? It's very clear the charter schools in Oklahoma, including St. Isidore are part of the government," explained Luchenitser.

Oklahoma County Judge, Richard Ogden dismissed claim one, but denied the motion to dismiss the other three counts.

The Oklahoma Parent Legislative Action Committee and its team of attorneys have 20 days to amend claim one if they wish to do so.

"The court only dismissed a very small part of our case. We feel good about how it went," said Luchenitser. "We thought the court was very well prepared, understood the issues very well. The court allowed most of our case to go forward. We consider that as a very positive development. St. Isidore wants to create essentially a religious public school, and that's never existed in the history of the United States. It would be un-American. It would fundamentally change and harm our public education system."

News 4 asked if he plans to amend claim one, but Luchenitser stated they're not losing much by not doing so.

I'm hopeful that the other three claims will suffer the same fate as the first claim. I certainly don't envy them and an uphill climb that they have.

Hiram Sasser, represents OSDE

An Alliance Defending Freedom attorney representing St. Isidore, Philip Sechler said, "We're happy the judge saw claim one was defective and we are looking forward to an opportunity to show that the rest of the claims the plaintiffs are bringing don't have merit."

A three-day hearing has been set for the end of July.

Meanwhile, St. Isidore is fighting another lawsuit in the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed a lawsuit against the virtual charter school in October.

“The [Statewide Virual Charter School] board members who approved this contract have violated the religious liberty of every Oklahoman by forcing us to fund the teachings of a specific religious sect with our tax dollars,” Drummond previously said.

Sechler told KFOR he believes his team will prevail against the AG when the time comes.

"The case by the Oklahoma Supreme Court will have a large impact on all the claims they're trying to bring here," added Sechler.

St. Isidore begins the 2024-2025 school year on August 12.

Both sides of the courtroom believe a decision will be made before the school year begins.