Arkansas and all of its divisions are exempt from any further claims in the ongoing Pulaski County school desegregation lawsuit, the state attorney general’s office told a federal judge.
State attorneys were responding to a motion made earlier this month by the Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District that asked for the judge’s help in acquiring state funds for the court-ordered replacement of Murrell Taylor and Bayou Meto elementary schools.
The Jacksonville district is alleging that the state’s stand against funding to the levels desired by the district “has exacerbated one of the remaining vestiges of segregation in this case by refusing to partner with JNPSD to remedy the unequal facilities in the District.”
The district is seeking court permission to file “a third-party complaint” against the Arkansas education secretary, who is Johnny Key, and the director of the state Division of Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation, who is Tim Cain.
Attorney General Leslie Rutledge and Assistant Attorney General Kat Hodge-Guest argued to the judge that state obligations in the lawsuit were “forever ceased” as the result of a 2013 settlement agreement in the lawsuit.
“It is JNPSD’s obligation to exercise its best judgment and manage its resources in the manner best suited to meet its desegregation obligations,” the state attorneys wrote.
“The State has no federal obligation to treat JNPSD more favorably than other districts seeking Partnership Program funding and support,” they wrote. “In fact, the State has provided substantial support to JNPSD since its detachment [to become an independent district], including state financial participation at a total cost of $43 million dollars for school facility projects.”
Chief U.S District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. is the presiding judge in the lawsuit.