A federal judge has ruled that the Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District is unitary on most areas of staffing and that it will achieve unitary status on facilities if it follows through with its master construction plan in the years ahead.
In an order filed Tuesday, U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. released the Jacksonville district, which detached from the larger Pulaski County Special School District in July 2016, from court supervision on all staffing issues "with the exception of incentives for certain teachers."
"The Court was impressed with the District's firm intentions, across the board, to eliminate, insofar as practicable, any vestige of segregation in its people," Marshall wrote. "The law doesn't require perfection, but rather a continual striving toward a district where there are equal opportunities for teachers and staff of all races."
The district is not yet unitary, or desegregated, with regard to facilities, but it "will be if it complies with the current master plan" with some modifications, Marshall added.
He noted in the order that Jacksonville's new high school, which is still being constructed, is a "strong and ambitious start." But he said the district's plan to replace two elementary schools in 16 years is "just too long" and said those schools must be completed "as quickly as possible" and before or at the same time as any expansion at the high or middle school.
Marshall also said Jacksonville must apply for state funding and that its new elementary schools must be equal to the new one it opened last month.
The district was released from its court supervision on facilities except for a requirement that it submit a yearly progress report until its master plan is complete.
"The Court retains jurisdiction, of course, to ensure that the District follows through," Marshall wrote.
Jacksonville is one of four districts in a decades-long desegregation lawsuit involving Little Rock-area schools.
The Little Rock and North Little Rock school districts have been declared unitary, but PCSSD has not.
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.