The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by a group of parents and students who claimed that the new admissions policy of a prestigious public school in Virginia discriminates against Asian Americans based on their race. The court rejected the opportunity to further limit efforts to advance diversity in education.

The plaintiffs claimed that the admissions policy of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology violated the equal protection guarantee of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, Reuters reported.
The justices upheld a lower court ruling that rejected their claim. At this school in the Alexandria, Washington, suburb, Asian Americans make up the bulk of the student body.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, located in Richmond, Virginia, issued a decision that conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented from, citing the court’s findings as “patently incorrect” in terms of what constitutes “prove intentional race discrimination.”

In a historic decision rendered last June, the court’s conservative majority of 6-3 dismissed race-conscious college and university admissions practices that had long been employed to increase the proportion of black, Hispanic, and other minority students on campuses.

A magnet school known by the nickname “TJ” and dedicated to math, science, and technology, Thomas Jefferson is extremely selective and regularly ranked among the top public high schools in the United States.