Supreme Court rejects new challenge to school admissions

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to put new limits on educational diversity efforts, turning away a challenge to a temporary admissions policy that meant more Black and Latino students at three elite Boston public high schools.

The justices rejected an appeal that contended Boston school officials unconstitutionally discriminated against White and Asian-American students with a neighborhood-based admissions system put in place for one year during the pandemic.

Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented, saying officials intentionally sought to reduce the number of White and Asian students. "That is racial balancing by another name and is undoubtedly unconstitutional," Alito wrote for the pair.

Read more: DEI isn't going anywhere — but it may get a rebrand

As is its custom when turning away an appeal, the court as a whole gave no explanation. In a separate statement, Justice Neil Gorsuch said that, while he shared Alito's concerns, the fact the policy was no longer in effect reduced the need for Supreme Court review.

The rebuff marks the second time this year the high court has opted not to extend its 2022 decision outlawing the use of race as a factor in university admissions. The 2022 ruling left open questions about policies that don't explicitly consider race but nonetheless affect a school's racial composition.

The three schools — Boston Latin School, Boston Latin Academy and John D. O'Bryant School — previously used a combination of grade-point average and standardized test scores. After the pandemic started in 2020, the committee that oversees the schools' joint admissions system dropped the test, substituting a policy that relied on student grades and zip codes for the 2021 entering classes.

Read more: EEOC lawsuits are down in 2024: Here's what this means for employers

The policy, which was in effect only for a single year, was challenged by a group representing 14 Asian-American and White students. The group said members of the committee were openly trying to achieve racial balancing.

A federal trial judge and a federal appeals court both ruled against the challengers.

Read more: Beyond diversity: The science of inclusion and equity for business success

"Treating students differently based on the zip codes in which they reside was not like treating them differently because of their skin color," Judge William Kayatta wrote for the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year.

The school committee said its current admission policy, which again incorporates standardized tests, hasn't been challenged.