The Pulaski County Special and Jacksonville/North Pulaski school districts are unitary with the exception of some facilities issues, U.S. District Chief Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. said Thursday.
"Is it time?" Yes," the judge said in a 68-page order in the federal school desegregation lawsuit that began in 1982. "It is therefore time for both Districts to continue their important and challenging work of educating all students without oversight from this Court, except as specified on facilities."
The ruling comes after a three-week court hearing last July on the four areas in which the Pulaski County Special district remained under court supervision of its desegregation efforts. Those included student discipline, student achievement and facilities. There was a similar two-week trial in October on the compliance issues in the Jacksonville district, which inherited desegregation obligations when it separated from the Pulaski district in 2016.
The class of all Black students in the two districts — primarily known as the Joshua intervenors — had challenged the districts' assertions of compliance with the desegregation requirements.
See Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more details.