WASHINGTON (CN) - The Oklahoma charter school board cannot open the nation's first religious charter school, the Supreme Court said on Thursday in an equally divided ruling.

Splitting 4-4, the justices were forced to uphold a lower court ruling nixing St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which would give K-12 students across Oklahoma access to a virtual religious education on the taxpayers' dime.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Donald Trump appointee, recused herself from the case. 

The conflict at the center of the case was whether Oklahoma's charter schools were public schools. Oklahoma said they were, arguing that St. Isidore would violate the establishment clause, which prohibits government-sanctioned religion. 

St. Isidore and the state's charter school board disagreed, focusing on charter schools' private ownership. They argued that barring St. Isidore from participating in the program violated the First Amendment's free exercise clause. 

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Source: Courthouse News Service