Supreme Court refuses to hear challenge to admission policy in Boston schools

Dec. 9 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned down a request to hear a legal challenge to admissions criteria at Boston high schools based on ZIP code designed to diversify its student body.

The case centered on the 2021 realignment of admission standards at the three prestigious and competitive "exam schools" -- the Boston Latin Schools, Boston Latin Academy and the John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics and Science in Massachusetts.

Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas -- both appointees by Republican presidents -- disagreed with the decision to not hear the case. Alito, meanwhile, claimed that Boston's policy was tantamount to "racial balancing by another name and is undoubtedly unconstitutional."

A 2023 Supreme Court decision struck down the policy of affirmative action at higher-learning institutions in a 6-3 ruling saying that race no longer can be used as a factor in admitting a student. And the Boston school board had aimed to increase the economic and racial diversity of its broad student population by using neutral language in its admissions.

Meanwhile, Justice Neil Gorsuch -- appointed by President-elect Trump in his first term -- wrote that the Boston schools had since changed its admissions policy, which "greatly diminish[es] the need for our review," he said in part.

Monday represented the second time the nation's high court opted to not intervene in a school admission program based on geography.

The Boston school system had reserved its seats at the three schools for students with the highest GPA in each Boston neighborhood instead of relying on standardized tests, and the total number of seats was dependent on the population of school-aged kids in its neighborhoods.

The admission process began November 2020 and closed January 2021. But the COVID-19 pandemic put a wrench in the process. Boston officials, however, put in place a new system for the 2022-2023 school year that relies on grades, census data and standardized test performance.

Under its revised policy, which only was in effect for a year, an estimated 43% of incoming students were labeled as economically disadvantaged which was an increase from the year prior. And according to court filings, of those admitted to the three schools, about 31% were White, 23% Black, 23% Hispanic and 18% Asian.

It was met with a lawsuit by the non-profit Boston Parent Coalition for Academic Excellence whose sole purpose is to push for "merit-based" admission to Boston's so-called "exam schools" on behalf of 14 anonymous White and Asian students who claimed to have applied for admission that fall.

But a lower court ruling said the coalition had failed to adequately establish that the "ZIP code" policy disproportionately harmed the Asian and White applicants because the groups still "earned more seats than their share of the applicant pool would suggest."

However, the Boston coalition appealed it to the Supreme Court, saying the prior ruling was "racial balancing by proxy."