Area lawyer pleased by race ruling

While no Lowcountry school uses race as a determining factor in whether students are admitted, that wasn't the case four years ago.

Larry Kobrovsky, a Charleston County attorney and former school board member, filed suits in 2002 against Buist Academy and Ashley River Creative Arts Elementary School for using race as part of their admissions process.

For almost two decades, both schools had quota systems that mandated a 60 percent white to 40 percent minority student ratio. Kobrovsky said those quotas were unconstitutional and based his position on rulings about race-based admissions policies from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The school district agreed in 2003 to remove race from the schools' admissions processes and ended the racial quota systems at both schools.

Kobrovsky called the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling Thursday a "good day for America," and said it vindicated his stance that race can't be used as a determining factor.

The decision also affirms the district was right in striking down Harvard University professor Charles Willie's 1998 recommendation that the district use a controlled choice plan. Part of the plan called for every school in the district to have a percentage of its seats set aside for students on free or reduced lunch because, Willie contended, socio-economic diversity improves learning. A committee of the county school board rejected the idea.

Gregg Meyers, a county school board member and former U.S. Justice Department attorney, said the district has avoided using race at all in school admission processes.

The 4th Circuit rulings have been more restrictive than the high court's Thursday decision, and Meyers said the new ruling should give the district more flexibility to fashion a sophisticated set of admissions criteria to achieve diversity, as long as it doesn't use race as the deciding factor, he said.

"We can be more aggressive in trying to promote diversity," he said.

The Supreme Court decision shouldn't have an effect on the state's charter school law. The law requires that schools reflect the racial makeup of the community they serve within 20 percentage points, but state Education Department spokesman Pete Pillow said the law doesn't allow schools to use race as a determining factor in whether students are accepted. The racial target is a goal, he said.

Reach Diette Courrégé at 937-5546 or dcourrege@postandcourier.com.