In a closely divided 4-4 decision on Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to permit the establishment of St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School, which would have been the country’s first publicly funded religious charter school.

According to USA TODAY, the ruling upholds an earlier decision by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which found that such a school would breach the U.S. Constitution’s clause mandating separation of church and state.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case, resulting in an evenly split eight-member court.

While Barrett provided no explanation for her recusal, she has a personal connection to a Notre Dame Law School professor who served as an early legal consultant to the Catholic Church in Oklahoma, the entity behind St. Isidore’s proposal.

The court’s brief, one-sentence ruling, issued three weeks after oral arguments, did not disclose individual justices’ votes. With no majority, the decision sets no legal precedent.

The Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal group representing the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board, expressed disappointment over the deadlock but highlighted the possibility of revisiting the issue.

“Oklahoma families deserve more educational options, not fewer,” said Jim Campbell, the group’s chief legal counsel, in a statement.

Conversely, Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, hailed the outcome as a “vital, though narrow, victory for constitutional integrity.”

She added, “A taxpayer-funded religious charter school would have demolished the barrier between church and state. For now, the First Amendment remains intact.”