Supreme Court deadlock halts plans for Catholic charter school in Oklahoma

The U.S Supreme Court has deadlocked and effectively ended plans for a publicly funded Catholic charter school in Oklahoma.

The Associated Press reports that the justices' 4-4 vote keeps in place an Oklahoma court decision that invalidated a vote by a state charter school board to approve the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School.

The school would have been the nation’s first religious charter school.

The Catholic Church in Oklahoma had wanted state funding to operate an online charter school “faithful to the teachings of Jesus Christ.” Opponents warned that allowing it would blur the separation between church and state and take money that would have gone to traditional public schools.

Only eight of the nine justices took part in the case. Justice Amy Coney Barrett didn’t explain her absence, but she is good friends and used to teach with Notre Dame law professor Nicole Garnett, who has been an adviser to the school.

The issue could return to the high court in the future, with the prospect that all nine justices could participate.

The case came to the court amid efforts, mainly in conservative-led states, to insert religion into public schools. Those include a challenged Louisiana requirement that the Ten Commandments be posted in classrooms and a mandate from Oklahoma’s state schools superintendent that the Bible be placed in public school classrooms.

St. Isidore, a K-12 online school, had planned to start classes last fall for 200 enrollees, with part of its mission to evangelize its students in the Catholic faith.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that the plan to establish a publicly funded religious school violated the U.S. and state constitutions, and must be rescinded.