The Becket Fund FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

Jenks v. Spry (Kimery v. Broken Arrow Public Schools) (2011 – current)

Stephanie and Russell Spry just want to keep doing what they have always done—give their disabled son the best education they can. It has always been difficult since the public school system is not designed to deal with children who have disabilities like severe autism, meaning that disabled children were simply “warehoused” or worse, bullied mercilessly by other children. The Sprys were overjoyed when the State of Oklahoma set up a scholarship program allowing them to attend schools that are designed to teach the disabled.

But in an outrageous move, Tulsa-area public school districts have sued Garrett Spry and three other disabled children—their own students—and their families to try and keep them from getting the scholarships the State has promised. In an effort to get more public funds, these school districts would rather these children be “warehoused” in the public school system than get an education from teachers who know how to teach the disabled. And they have not shied away from spending thousands of taxpayer dollars to do it.

The State of Oklahoma passed a law in 2010 that gives certain students with disabilities the right to receive a scholarship from the State of Oklahoma to facilitate their attendance in a participating nonpublic school. That law, the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship for Students with Disabilities Program Act, went into effect in August, 2010. While the vast majority of the state’s 541 school districts immediately complied with the law, a handful decided that doing so would violate Oklahoma’s Blaine Amendment–a bigoted provision that targets religious groups–and unilaterally (without court sanction) refused to comply with the law.

Under pressure from the state’s Attorney General, the districts claimed to reverse course and begin complying with the law. But in fact, their “compliance” appears to the affected parents and students as retaliation for seeking a scholarship. The districts allegedly reduced the eligible parents’ awards and significantly complicated their attempts to claim scholarships.

The school districts indicated in January 2011 that they would sue the state Attorney General regarding the constitutionality of the scholarship program. After waiting in limbo for nearly four months, in April 2011 twelve of the special needs students and their parents, represented by the Becket Fund, sued the districts.

Then the State Legislature stepped in and solved the problem in the summer of 2011 by removing responsibility for the Scholarship Program from the school districts. That led to the parents dismissing their lawsuit; problem solved.

But the school districts couldn’t take no for an answer from the State Legislature. So in a cowardly move, instead of suing the state, last fall they sued disabled children and their parents in state court in an effort to deny them the scholarships. The Becket Fund is defending these disabled children and their families in Oklahoma state court. The Oklahoma Solicitor General will also argue in favor of the scholarship program.

On March 27, 2012, an Oklahoma District Judge ruled against the families stating that the program was unconstitutional. The Becket Fund appealed the decision, and on April 18, 2012, the Judge ruled that the program can remain intact while the appeal is pending.

Stay tuned.

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For more information, or to arrange an interview with one of the attorneys, please contact Emily Hardman, Communications Director, at ehardman@becketfund.org or call 202.349.7224.