A federal appeals court stayed a lower court ruling Thursday that had declared a Virginia magnet high school‘s admissions process illegal discrimination against Asian Americans.
In a 2-1 order, the three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit stayed a February ruling that had blocked Thomas Jefferson High School in Fairfax, Virginia, from implementing recent changes to its admissions process aimed at increasing the number of black and Hispanic students.
The order was written by Judge Toby Heytens and joined by Judge Robert King. The order claimed that the Fairfax County School Board, which governs Thomas Jefferson High School, would likely succeed in its appeal.
“In my view, appellant Fairfax County School Board is likely to succeed,” wrote Heytens, an appointee of President Joe Biden.
VIRGINIA MAGNET SCHOOL DISCRIMINATED AGAINST ASIAN AMERICANS, FEDERAL JUDGE RULES
The president of the school board, Stella Pekarsky, said in a statement that the board was “pleased” with the court’s ruling and would continue to pursue its appeal of the lower court ruling.
The ruling marks the latest development in the legal battle over the Thomas Jefferson High School admissions process, which was overhauled in 2020 in a bid to increase the number of black students.
The board claimed its process is racially neutral and said the lower court’s ruling was the first time “a race-neutral, race-blind admissions policy was declared unconstitutional.”
The ruling is a setback for the Coalition for TJ, a group of alumni, students, staff, and community members who had filed the lawsuit challenging the new admissions policy on the grounds that it had discriminated against Asian American students after the number of students at the high school from that demographic dropped substantially.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
At the time of the policy’s implementation, members of the school board had made comments indicating they were aware of the effects on Asian American students.
In the now-stayed February ruling in favor of the coalition, Judge Claude Hilton wrote that “discriminatory intent does not require racial animus,” adding that “the board acted at least in part because of, not merely in spite of the policy’s adverse effects upon an identifiable group.”
