BERKELEY -- A judge has dismissed a lawsuit that accused the Berkeley school district of racial discrimination in assigning students to elementary schools.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge James Richman ruled late Tuesday that the school district's voluntary racial integration system does not violate Proposition 209, the 1996 initiative that banned the use of racial preferences in government, employment, contracting and public education.

"We are very pleased ... this is a really important decision that has statewide implications," said Erica Teasley Linnick, an attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.

The Pacific Legal Foundation, a conservative, Sacramento-based, public interest group, filed suit against the school district in August on behalf of Berkeley resident Lorenzo Avila, the father of two sons in elementary schools.

Richman ruled the plan is constitutional because race is only one factor used by the district in assigning students to schools. The assignment system also uses parent education level, parent income level, a child's residence and where his or her siblings attend school.

Berkeley education officials were claiming a civil rights victory Wednesday, though the ruling could be appealed.

"Our board of education made the right decision and took on the courageous fight. As a result, our student assignment system, which uses races as one of the criteria, can continue," said Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent Michele Lawrence. "I think it is a tribute in light of the 50th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education that Berkeley is able to sustain this fight for diversity."

Following the landmark Brown decision in 1954, a citizens' commission was formed and found Berkeley suffered from severe housing segregation that led to racial isolation in schools. In 1968, the district became the first in the nation to voluntarily integrate its schools. In 1995, the district adopted a plan to preserve integration in its schools. The school board updated the plan again in February.

Pacific Legal Foundation lawyer John Findley said Thursday it is a virtual certainty "there will be an appeal," though he said he has not spoken to Avila.

"I think the court was incorrect on several bases, one of which was the misreading of various opinions that we cited to the judge," he said. "I think what we can do now is take those arguments to the Court of Appeal."

Before dismissing the lawsuit, Richman also ruled in favor of two motions to join the suit to defend Berkeley's desegregation plan. These rulings are important in case of an appeal, officials said.

The motions to intervene were from the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action by Any Means Necessary and the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Immigrant Rights along with parents and community members, and by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense and Educational Fund along with three Berkeley parents.