A federal judge has preliminarily barred Oklahoma’s statewide charter board from excluding a proposed Jewish charter school because of its religious character. The order allows the National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation to continue pursuing authorization while its constitutional lawsuit proceeds; it is not a final judgment or an automatic charter approval.
U.S. District Judge David L. Russell granted a preliminary injunction on Sept. 24 in the Western District of Oklahoma. According to the order summary, the board cannot enforce the state’s nonsectarian requirement or otherwise exclude Ben Gamla from the charter program solely because it would provide religious instruction. The case was filed in March by the foundation and founder Peter Deutsch, and the federal docket identifies Russell as the presiding judge.
The decision rests on the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause. Russell concluded at this stage that the nonsectarian rule expressly discriminates against otherwise eligible recipients based on religious character. He also treated the charter applicant as a private entity rather than a government actor required to remain secular, a central issue that separates his analysis from the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s treatment of religious charter schools.
A preliminary order, not the last word
The practical effect is narrower than approval to open. The Statewide Charter School Board must consider Ben Gamla without using religion itself as a disqualifier, but other legal and operational questions remain. StateImpact Oklahoma reported that the proposed virtual school aims to open for the 2027-28 academic year and that attorneys expect an appeal to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The dispute follows Oklahoma’s earlier attempt to authorize St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. The Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down that contract in 2024, and the U.S. Supreme Court later divided 4-4, leaving the state ruling in place without creating a national precedent. The Ben Gamla litigation asks a federal district court to resolve similar church-state questions through a different applicant and record.
The parties are unusually aligned in part. The charter board denied Ben Gamla after citing the binding state precedent, yet its outside lawyers support the argument that a religious applicant cannot be excluded solely for being religious. Groups of Oklahoma parents, educators and clergy intervened to defend the secular requirement, arguing that publicly funded charter schools are public schools and must remain open and nonsectarian. Oklahoma Voice documented both positions after the ruling.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond is no longer a defendant in the federal case, but his office has a separate state action challenging how the board recorded its rejection. In a March filing announcement, Drummond alleged the board omitted nonreligious concerns, including enrollment projections and other application deficiencies, when it issued the revised denial. Those allegations were not resolved by Russell’s preliminary injunction.
For Oklahoma families, no enrollment window opens immediately. The board must review the order and take further action on the application, while intervenors may seek appellate relief. The ruling changes the legal ground for that review, but the school’s authorization, funding and opening schedule remain contingent on additional administrative and court decisions.
