Drummond dismisses court action after Ben Gamla charter application fails

OKLAHOMA CITY (Oct. 15, 2026) – Attorney General Gentner Drummond today dismissed his court action against the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board after Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School’s revised application fell short of the votes needed for approval.

“From day one, this case was about making a state agency tell the whole truth about why it rejected a deeply flawed application,” said Drummond. “My office warned this Board in March that the school had no community support and no realistic path to the enrollment it promised. The founder’s own words have now proved that right, so the court no longer needs to step in.”

Ben Gamla’s numbers have shifted dramatically. Its letter of intent proposed a high school of 40 students. Its application then inconsistently described a K–12 school of 335 to 400 students. Last month, the founder told Oklahoma Jewish leaders the school would open as an online high school with a first-year goal of 10 students. According to today’s filing, the school’s budget and financial plans were built on several hundred students, and an applicant expecting just 10 has not shown the community need or financial viability state law requires.

On Monday, four Board members voted to approve the application and three voted against it. Approval requires five votes, so the revised application was rejected.

Any new application from Ben Gamla would have to start over and could only apply to a later school year. The dismissal is without prejudice, leaving the door open for further legal action.