An open seat on a new state education board – one that’s asking the U.S. Supreme Court to allow it to approve the nation’s first religious charter school – has been filled by an entrepreneur who once enjoyed success in the restaurant industry.
In mid-November, just four days before leaving office due to term limits, former Oklahoma House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, appointed David Rutkauskas of Edmond to the nine-member Statewide Charter School Board, an executive agency that began its work July 1, succeeding the now-dissolved Statewide Virtual Charter School Board.
The new Statewide Charter School Board will meet Monday in Oklahoma City.
Rutkauskas’ term will last until July 31, 2026. According to his LinkedIn page, Rutkauskas spent five years as the chief operating officer at UBuildIt, a company that says it assists homeowners with overseeing and managing the entire planning and building process of do-it-yourself house building. He left in November. He also founded Franchise Innovations in January 2022.
In a statement, Rutkauskas said he was honored to serve on the charter schools board and said he planned to champion innovation and educational opportunities.
More: Gov. Stitt. Ryan Walters back religious charter school with Supreme Court brief filings
An entrepreneur and business executive is the newest member of the Statewide Charter School Board.
“Education is the foundation for a thriving future, and charter schools play a vital role in providing families with quality choices that meet diverse needs,” Rutkauskas said.
Under law, the House speaker is allowed two appointments to the nine-member board. One of McCall’s previous appointments, Ben Lepak, resigned from the board in October after becoming the general counsel for Gov. Kevin Stitt.
Though Lepak attended only two of the board’s five meetings before he resigned, he made a significant impact during his short tenure. During the July 30 meeting, he made a motion — approved 8-1 by the board — that it pursue an appeal of the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision that the board rescind its contract with St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School to the U.S. Supreme Court. That appeal has since been filed, although the U.S. Supreme Court hasn’t yet decided if it will hear it.
The board is pitted against Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who filed the lawsuit with the state Supreme Court that forced the board to rescind its contract with St. Isidore.
Rutkauskas made his name in the world of restaurant franchising, founding Camille’s Sidewalk Café and eventually starting and leading a company known as Beautiful Brands International, which included multiple eateries among its portfolio. In 2013, the Tulsa World reported Camille’s had had 107 restaurants across the nation in 2009, but that number had fallen to 36, with some angry franchisees blaming Rutkauskas.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Camille’s Sidewalk Cafe founder named to Oklahoma charter school board