The Supreme Court decided on Monday not to take up an appeal from Boston parents who argued that a temporary admissions policy for the city’s prestigious high schools discriminated against white and Asian students.
The policy, implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, replaced the traditional entrance exam with a system that considered academic performance and ZIP codes. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented, expressing concerns about the fairness of the policy, while Justice Neil Gorsuch also voiced reservations.
The Boston School Committee adopted the policy as a pandemic-related safety measure, citing the difficulty of holding in-person exams.
Supreme Court
The new admissions criteria applied to Boston Latin School, Boston Latin Academy, and the O’Bryant School of Math and Science, all of which traditionally rely on competitive entrance exams. The committee aimed to create an alternative process that considered both individual performance and geographic diversity.
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the temporary policy, reasoning that it did not violate the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling that struck down race-conscious college admissions. The appellate court found that Boston’s approach was not explicitly race-based but rather a practical response to pandemic challenges. This ruling convinced the Supreme Court to leave the lower court’s decision intact.
In dissent, Justice Alito called the lower court’s ruling a “glaring constitutional error,” arguing that the policy indirectly prioritized race in violation of the Court’s affirmative action decision. Joined by Justice Thomas, Alito contended that racial considerations were central to the Boston School Committee’s actions, raising broader concerns about the potential continuation of race-based decision-making in educational policies.
