Virtual charter school board hires outside legal team
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - The Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board is putting together a team to defend the use of public tax dollars for the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School.
If it opens, it will be the first tax-payer funded religious school in the country.
Alliance Defending Freedom, (ADF) a Christian law firm with high profile cases has been hired with a vote of 3-to-1, from the board, Monday night.
The board also voted to hire an Oklahoma City based attorney to represent it locally.
According to its website, the ADF is the world's largest religious freedom legal organization in the world, and is "committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, the sanctity of life,marriage and family, and parental rights".
Watch the meeting in its entirety, here.
The Arizona-based group helped overturn Roe v. Wade and recently helped a Colorado graphic designer win a landmark case in the Supreme Court, arguing she does not have to serve gay customers.
Alliance Defending Freedom is also a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization that relies on grants and funding according to its website.
The vote for new national representation comes after State Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced he would step out of any legal battles Oklahoma's Statewide Virtual Charter School Board may face.
Last month, that board approved the nation's first ever religious charter school against the Attorney General's legal counsel.
As a result, Drummond won't provide legal help since he says the Charter violates Oklahoma's and the U.S. Constitution, separating church and state.
"The Supreme Court’s decision not to take up the Peltier case is promising for all Oklahomans who are troubled by the possibility of state-funded religious charter schools," Drummond said in a June statement.
"While the Court’s action may be taken as a favorable development in the effort to maintain non-secular public schools, I expect much litigation on this issue in the months to come. I will continue fighting to protect the Constitution and preserve religious liberty, just as my oath requires.”
Without state support, the board has hired the conservative Christian legal firm to represent it, saying they need legal help with contracts, fulfilling open records requests and general communication.
Even though the board voted to hire ADF, it must submit an outside counsel contract with the State Attorney General's Office.
As of early Tuesday evening, the Attorney's General's office said the board has not yet submitted that application.