WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has denied an appeal by parents to block a new admissions policy at a prestigious northern Virginia high school that a lower court ruled discriminates against Asian American students. .
The high court on Monday did not explain its order allowing Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology to continue using its admissions policy while the Fairfax County School Board appeals the lower court’s decision.
Judges Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas said they would have granted a request from parent group, Coalition for TJ, to suspend the admissions policy.
In February, the group persuaded U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton that a new policy that boosted representation of blacks and Hispanics amounted to impermissible “racial balance” at the selective school near the nation’s capital. It is often ranked as one of the best public high schools in the country.
Asian American students made up over 70% of the student body. Under the new policy, used to admit the school’s current freshman class, Asian American representation dropped to 54%. Black students increased from 1% to 7% and Hispanic representation increased from 3% to 11%.
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Hilton had ordered the new policy stayed, but the federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., said it could be used while the case continues in court.
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