Kamehameha Schools yesterday rejected a proposal that would allow a non-Hawaiian student to enroll in classes for his senior year.

The action prompted the student's lawyer to say the refusal reminds him of the late Alabama Gov. George Wallace trying to block black students from entering the University of Alabama in the early 1960s.

Kamehameha officials called the remarks "insulting."

Eric Grant, a Sacramento, Calif., lawyer, represents the unidentified youth in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' 2-1 ruling this week striking down what the court said was the school's practice of admitting only Native Hawaiian applicants.

Grant said with yesterday's formal rejection, he will follow through with the request he filed Tuesday, asking the three-member appeals court panel to immediately order the school to enroll his client. Classes start Thursday for Kamehameha's Maui campus, Aug. 17 for freshmen and Aug. 18 for the rest of the students at the school's flagship Kapalama campus and at the Big Island campus.

Kamehameha Schools says it will oppose that request.

Grant said he understands why the private institution wants to challenge the decision to protect the policy. But while that challenge is pending, Grant said, it would only be fair to allow the teenager his last opportunity to enroll for his final high school year. He said he proposed that in exchange for the school admitting the student, he would agree that the 2-1 decision would not be a final enforceable judgment covering any other person, pending the outcome of all court challenges.

Grant called the rejection of his offer "unfortunate" and referred to Wallace standing on campus steps in 1963 and vowing to refuse entry to black students. "To me, that's the attitude they're taking," he said.

Ann Botticelli, Kamehameha's vice president of community relations and communications, called Grant's remarks "insulting to everyone who lives here."

"To liken the leadership of Kamehameha Schools to segregationists is profoundly offensive," she said.

The school will oppose the injunction because it does not believe the youth will suffer "irreparable harm," one of the legal requirements to get the order, Botticelli said.

"Eric Grant is trying to make this about one child," she said. "But to us, it's about a policy and protecting a policy that affects thousands of Hawaiian children for generations to come."

Although Grant said the paperwork on the motion from both sides could be filed by next week, the panel is under no obligation to rule quickly. Grant, however, said a decision could be rendered the week of Aug. 15.

School supporters say the decision strikes at the heart of the $6 billion private institution, which seeks to address the socioeconomic and educational disadvantages among Native Hawaiians by giving preference to applicants of Hawaiian ancestry.

The school plans to challenge the 2-1 decision by asking for a larger panel of 11 Ninth Circuit judges to rehear the case. Although such requests rarely are granted, some legal observers say there is a chance the school will get one in view of the split opinion and the significance of the decision for Hawai'i.

The 2-1 decision essentially would be suspended pending the outcome of the challenge, which could take months.

If the school loses on the appeals-court level, it has said it will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, Gov. Linda Lingle's administration, which is not involved in the court case, is willing to legally defend the admission policy.

Attorney General Mark Bennett said his office will ask permission from the appeals court to file a brief in support of the school's request for a rehearing.

Yesterday, Lingle said the court decision against Kamehameha Schools was the wrong decision and that it sends a wrong message. "Kamehameha Schools is the most diverse school in our school system," Lingle said. "There is so much false information out there that it is destructive to the Hawaiian movement."

The Akaka bill, pending before Congress, would help Kamehameha Schools continue its mandate because it would protect the schools from such lawsuits, she said.

U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, is fairly confident he has enough votes to pass the legislation, Lingle said, but one never knows what will happen when it comes up for a vote.

"The Kamehameha Schools decision explains to others why the Akaka bill is so important to Hawai'i," she said.