Supreme Court Declines to Hear Challenge to Elite Virginia High School’s Allegedly Discriminatory Admissions Policy

The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear an appeal challenging an elite Virginia high school’s admissions policy, which the plaintiffs claim discriminates against Asian-American students.

The Supreme Court decision allows a lower-court ruling in favor of the school to stand. The Court’s majority did not explain its decision, but Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas said they would have heard the case in a dissenting opinion.

“The Court’s willingness to swallow the aberrant decision below is hard to understand,” wrote Alito, joined by Thomas. “We should wipe the decision off the books, and because the Court refuses to do so, I must respectfully dissent.”

The case in question involves the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County, Va., a state-chartered magnet school for students specializing in STEM. According to the lawsuit filed by the Coalition for TJ in 2021, the Fairfax County School Board allegedly violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause because Thomas Jefferson’s new diversity-focused admissions policy disproportionately harmed Asian Americans.

Asian Americans made up more than 70 percent of students in the 2019 and 2020 classes. After the policy was adopted in December 2020, the number of Asian-American students admitted significantly dropped while the number of white, Hispanic, and black students increased. Asian Americans received roughly 54 percent of the school’s total offers under the new policy, whereas before their offer rate was between 65 and 75 percent.

Although the percentage of offers for Asian Americans initially fell three years ago, that number rose to 62 percent last fall.

“We’re very proud that the last three years of TJHSST admissions decisions included students from every Fairfax County middle school and the average grade-point average (GPA) was 3.9, which is consistent with historical averages,” Fairfax County School Board chairman Karl Frisch said in defense of the policy on Tuesday.

“We have long believed that the new admissions process is both constitutional and in the best interest of all of our students,” Frisch added. “It guarantees that all qualified students from all neighborhoods in Fairfax County have a fair shot at attending this exceptional high school.”

In February 2022, U.S. district judge Claude Hilton ruled that the Fairfax public-school system engaged in “racial balancing” and violated the Fourteenth Amendment. However, a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Va., later reversed that decision. Unlike their colleagues, Alito and Thomas disagreed with the appeals court’s ruling.

“What the Fourth Circuit majority held, in essence, is that intentional racial discrimination is constitutional so long as it is not too severe,” the dissent reads. “This reasoning is indefensible, and it cries out for correction.”

In response to the Supreme Court’s denial of the plaintiff’s writ of certiorari, Coalition for TJ co-founder Asra Nomani said, “We remain committed to protecting the values of merit, equality, and justice — and we will prevail for the future of our children and for the nation we love and embrace.”

“For the courageous families who have tirelessly fought for the principles that our nation holds dear, this decision is a setback but not a death blow to our commitment to the American Dream, which promises equal opportunity and justice for all,” added Nomani.

The Supreme Court’s latest decision comes several months after ending the use of affirmative action in the admissions process at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. Since last June when the ruling was issued, other universities and schools have been reviewing their diversity policies to ensure they are not in violation of the Court’s affirmative-action ban.