Supreme Court Appeal Filed in LMSD Redistricting

"Students Doe" announced an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in a redistricting lawsuit against Lower Merion School District that accused the district of inappropriately using race as an influencing factor.

The redistricting plan sent students in some South Ardmore neighborhoods to  instead of the closer . 

The U.S. Court of Appeals .

“Students Doe believe that the Appeals Court’s finding is incorrect,” reads a press release on behalf of the plaintiffs. “There is overwhelming evidence from the trial record that racial considerations loomed large in the decision making of the District's administration, consultants, and members of the sitting school board. The Students are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold their constitutional rights to equal treatment under the law. They are asking that their right to choose to attend their neighborhood high school be restored to them, as it is for other children in their surrounding neighborhoods.”

Lower Merion School District did not release a statement Tuesday but instead referred back to its earlier statements made about the suit.

“This is yet another reaffirmation that the policy and practices adopted by the District were educationally and operationally appropriate, and Constitutional,” district spokesman Doug Young wrote in December after the appeals court ruled in the district's favor. “We firmly believe this ruling should be the final chapter in this dispute and sincerely hope that our resilient community can continue to work together on behalf of all our children.”