The Seminole Public School District is pursuing legal action against the State Board of Education over its action to equalize funding between all public schools and charter schools and to settle a lawsuit with the Oklahoma Public Charter School Association (OPCSA).

In its regular meeting earlier this month, the Seminole School Board passed a resolution authorizing Superintendent Bob Gragg and the district’s legal counsel to pursue “appropriate actions including litigation” against the state board.

“Due to the overreaching, illegal, and unconstitutional nature of the action by the State Board of Education, District’s Board of Education demands that the State Board of Education meet and rescind the action of March 25, 2021 adopting a resolution to equalize funding between all public schools and charter schools and to settle the lawsuit with OPCSA,” the resolution states in part.

In July 2017, the OPCSA filed a lawsuit claiming that charter schools are entitled to an equal share of revenues. Currently, funds flow only to traditional public schools from Oklahoma’s gross production, motor vehicle and rural electrification association tax collections, state school land earnings and county tax collections. Unlike traditional schools, charter schools are not allowed to pass bond proposals.

In its resolution, the Seminole School District claims it will “suffer significant financial impact” if the proposed settlement approved by the state board is implemented.

Since the local board passed its resolution, legislation has been proposed that could result in no legal action against the state. Last week, Senate Bill 229, known as the Redbud School Funding Act, passed through the House, which proposes using medical marijuana taxes and the Common School Building Equalization Fund to provide annual per-student funding grants to eligible school districts and charter schools. The bill is pending approval in the Senate.

“Legal action could be taken off the table if the Redbud Funding Act passes,” Gragg said. “In my opinion, it’s a remedy. It could resolve the issue. It’s a good bill and a timely bill that puts some money into the equalization formula that’s never been there.”

The authors of the Redbud bill, which include Sen. Zack Taylor (R-Seminole), say that on average, public charter schools receive $330 less per student in non-chargeable local revenue. Non-chargeable dollars are dollars that do not count against a school district for the purposes of state aid. Taylor’s wife, Stephanie, sits on the board of The Academy of Seminole, a charter school that opened its doors in the fall of 2018.

Seminole Public Schools is one of several school districts across the state to bring legal action against the state board. The district is represented by the Center for Education Law, which was formed in 1983 to provide legal services tailored to public school districts in Oklahoma.