Oklahoma AG opinion prevents extra vote on Jewish charter school

OKLAHOMA CITY — An attorney general opinion has blocked the Statewide Charter School Board from taking an uncommon extra vote on a Jewish charter school.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond issued the legally binding opinion Thursday, stating a third vote on the school’s charter application would be illegal. He said state law allows the board to vote no more than twice on whether to approve a new online charter school.

The board had scheduled a special meeting Friday to reconsider Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School, which is seeking to become the first taxpayer-funded religious school in the nation. In light of Drummond’s opinion, though, the board opted not to vote on the school’s application to open.

A representative of Ben Gamla’s founding group did not immediately return a request for comment Friday afternoon.

The board had rejected Ben Gamla in March because the school pledged to teach the Jewish faith along with secular class subjects. Oklahoma law and a 2024 state Supreme Court decision require charter schools to be non-religious.

However, an Oklahoma City federal court judge decided in September a charter school cannot be denied solely because of its religious character. 

The board voted Friday to appeal the federal ruling to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in hopes of clearing up the conflicting judicial decisions.

“I think this is a question that begs to be answered of where do we stand,” board Chairperson Brian Shellem said after the meeting. “Should we be allowed to discriminate against those with a religious character? I would say what we want is just those who can competently carry out the mission of educating.”

The board supported Ben Gamla’s case in court, so the decision to appeal its desired ruling is “strange, to say the least,” a spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office said.

“We are not aware of another instance in which a state board has asked a federal court for an injunction, gotten it, and then voted to appeal its own victory,” spokesperson Carrie Burkhart said. “We will monitor any filings, but the Attorney General will not approve the expenditure of a single state dollar on an appeal the Board has no standing to bring.”

The September federal court ruling prompted the board to vote again Oct. 12 on the school’s application, but Ben Gamla still failed to pass. Only four members voted in favor of it, falling short of the five votes required for the nine-seat board to give final approval.

Friday’s meeting agenda signaled another attempt to reconsider, but to do so would be unlawful, the attorney general said.

Drummond issued the opinion after Rep. Ellen Pogemiller, D-Oklahoma City, and Rep. Ronny Johns, R-Ada, requested his input on whether an additional vote would be legal following the Oct. 12 rejection.

Oklahoma law establishes a “closed, two-step application process” for proposed online charter schools, and the board cannot add a third step, Drummond wrote in his opinion.

“It authorizes no third vote, rehearing, reconsideration, or rescission,” the opinion states.

Ben Gamla’s leading founder, former U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch, urged the board to approve both the school and the court appeal. Without both approvals, Ben Gamla would be forced to withdraw its application, he wrote in a Tuesday letter to the board, which Oklahoma Voice obtained.

“No other Oklahoma charter school is forced to endure these types of existential risks,” Deutsch wrote. “And based on my experience, I’m confident that a Board decision here to leave the (state Supreme Court) decision intact would dissuade other potential religious charter schools from opening in Oklahoma.”