( October 20, 2026, 2:55 PM EDT) -- WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 19 granted certiorari in an organization’s challenge of a Montgomery County, Md., magnet middle school’s admissions criteria adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic for an admissions lottery as opposed to in-person testing; the organization asserted that the COVID-era lottery system made it more difficult for Asian-American students in high-performing, low-poverty elementary schools to access the lottery....