Judge denies request to throw out exam admissions policy
A federal judge refused for the second time to rule against the new policy the Boston School Committee adopted to increase diversity at the district’s elite exam schools.
“The Supreme Court has explained that the motive of increasing minority participation and access is … not suspect,” District Judge William Young wrote.
In his 55-page ruling, Young noted that Boston, the home of the oldest and most prestigious schools in the country, is also home to 34 schools among the lowest performing 10% of schools in the state.
But Young’s decision also comes two months after the judge, in a move unprecedented for him, withdrew his initial opinion, which had ruled in favor of a zip-code-based temporary exam school admissions policy, saying the district “misled” him by leaving out text message records that included racially charged messages.
“I’ve been misled, and I don’t see how the opinion can stand,” Young fumed in a July virtual hearing.
Kay Hodge, an attorney representing Boston Public Schools, said at the time city attorneys had made the decision to leave out certain text messages among school committee members in response to a public records request on the grounds that they were personal in nature and not related to official business.
Those messages turned out to be an exchange between then-member Alexandra Oliver-Davila, who sent a text to then member Lorna Rivera that said “I hate WR” (West Roxbury), to which Rivera replied “sick of westie whites.” Oliver-Davila said, “Me too I really feel Like saying that !!!! ”
Hodge claimed neither she nor other members of the district’s legal team knew that texts had been redacted until the parent coalition brought it up in court.
“It didn’t occur to you to bring that to the attention of the court?” Young asked Hodge, to which she said no.
William Hurd, an attorney representing the coalition, said he was seeking other relief, such as barring BPS from ever using a zip code quota for admissions again.
Hurd argued that the temporary admissions policy was racially biased, which was further evidenced by the text messages between Oliver-Davila and Rivera, who resigned after the messages were released.
Darragh Murphy, a member of the parent coalition, on Saturday declined to comment because the case is now before the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals.
Spokesmen and an attorney for the school district did not return calls or emails.
The issue of exam schools came to a head in July, when the school committee approved a new, permanent admissions policy using a poverty indicator and socioeconomic tiers.
The last time the school committee voted on such a matter was when the infamous text exchange between Oliver-Davila and Rivera that came to light happened and when former chairman Michael Loconto was caught appearing to mock Asian names on a hot mic and later resigned.