The ruling means that the unnamed boy might not get to attend Kamehameha Schools because he is about to enter his senior year and the court proceedings might take longer than a year to complete.

The boy's lawyer, Eric Grant of Sacramento, Calif., said he was notified by telephone today about the court's decision. Grant had filed the request Aug. 2, asking the appeals court to immediately order the school to enroll his client. Classes start 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.

Grant said the court clerk's office told him he could refile the request in the future, but only after it is sent back to senior U. S. District Judge Alan Kay here, which could be after the appellate legal proceedings.

Kamehameha Schools officials have already said they intend to contest the ruling by asking for a rehearing, a process that could keep the case at the appeals court for months.

Grant said they were still trying to determine what to do next.

Last week, the appeals court ruled in a 2-1 decision that Kamehameha Schools' policy of giving preference to applicants who have Hawaiian blood amounts to a total ban on non-Native Hawaiian students from getting into the private school.

The majority ruled the policy constituted unlawful race discrimination.