On March 31, 2021, OKCPS, as an intervening defendant, filed in Oklahoma County District Court, a Petition for Cross Claims against the Oklahoma State Board of Education (“State Board”).  After no activity in the case for a year, the State Board took unexpected, sudden and unlawful action on March 25 to seek to equalize funding among charter schools, including virtual charter schools. A resolution was passed which seemed to be an attempt to settle the lawsuit, although the two intervening parties, OKCPS and TPS were unaware of the proposed resolution.

Although our District leadership had requested that the State Board reconsider and rescind its recent action in order to avoid this additional legal step, there has been no movement. So, in order to further protect the interests of our students, the District now seeks a temporary restraining order and temporary injunction to restrain the State Board from implementing the attempted settlement. Additionally, the District requests that the Court issue a writ of prohibition against the State Board for exceeding its authority and make a determination as to the appropriate interpretation and application of the laws regarding the funding of public school districts and charter schools.

It is unfortunate that because of the State Board’s overreaching action we are forced to continue directing our limited time and resources to address an issue that is clearly unlawful and not in the best interest of the more than 700,000 students who attend traditional public schools in Oklahoma. OKCPS remains committed to protecting the financial resources necessary to serve our students. 

NOTE: Our legal team is working to finalize a date/time for this hearing. We will share that information when it becomes available.