MoCo parent group asks SCOTUS to hear case alleging discrimination in MCPS admissions  

Case argues that processes for middle school programs burdens Asian American families

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July 7, 2026 4:12 p.m.

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For at least the second time in the past several years, the U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to hear a case concerning Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), this time related to claims that admission policies adopted by the district for middle school magnet programs were designed to reduce opportunities for Asian American students.  

The petition for writ of certiorari was filed to the highest court on Thursday by the Pacific Legal Foundation, according to court records and the group’s website. The foundation is “a public interest law firm that defends Americans’ liberties when threatened by government overreach,” according to its site. It is representing the Association for Education Fairness, which calls itself a group of “concerned Asian-American parents in Montgomery County.”  

In a statement to Bethesda Today on Monday, MCPS spokesperson Chris Cram said the district rejected “the characterization that its admissions process is designed to disadvantage any racial or ethnic group.” 

“Quite the opposite: admission to middle school criteria-based programs is determined through a centralized review process that considers multiple academic measures. The claims in this case relate to admissions practices that were in effect during the COVID-19 period,” Cram said. “Since that time, MCPS has conducted a comprehensive review of its academic programs and admissions processes to ensure equitable access to advanced learning opportunities for all students.”  

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The case is related to a report released in 2016 by consulting firm Metis that found that there were significant racial and socioeconomic disparities in the enrollment and admissions to selective programs, according to court documents, particularly for Black and Latino students.  

According to the SCOTUS complaint, the report resulted the district implementing field tests for the admissions process in 2018 and 2019. The tests implemented peer grouping, which district court documents said considered the “academic peer group,” which is a “cohort of 20 or more students in the same middle school with a comparable academic range” in admissions. They also implemented “local norming” according to the district court documents, which organized schools into low-poverty, moderate-poverty, and high-poverty schools, and compared students coming from each band of elementary school against each other.  

MCPS changed its admissions process again during the COVID-19 pandemic, pivoting to lottery-based admissions, according to the July 2 petition to the high court. According to the MCPS website, they currently have a lottery and criteria-based system, including grades and assessment for evaluating students.  

The Pacific Legal Group is arguing “the district adopted facially race-neutral admissions criteria to achieve preferred racial outcomes,” according to a Monday press release.  

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The case was first filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in 2020 then was appealed in 2024 to the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, after a district court concluded that the complaint didn’t plausibly state that the policy disparately impacts Asian Americans or that the policy was implemented with discriminatory intent. That decision was upheld by the appeals court.  

The petition follows a 2023 decision from the high court that eliminated the use of affirmative action in college admissions after a group sued Harvard alleging that the admissions process violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against Asian American applicants and white applicants, according The Washington Post.  

It also follows the U.S. Supreme Court decision in June 2025 that required MCPS to allow families to opt out of school materials that they object to on religious grounds, such as books with gay characters.  

According to PBS, on most Fridays during the court’s October to June term, the justices will meet to determine which cases to hear. In recent years the U.S. Supreme Court has received roughly 4,000 petitions but decided fewer than 80 cases, according to PBS. 

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine