Judge asked to finalize new l district in desegregation case

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Lawyers asked a federal judge to approve the next step in the creation of a new Arkansas school district stemming from a 32-year-old school desegregation case that has its roots in the court-ordered integration of Little Rock Central High School in 1957.

Jacksonville voters overwhelmingly approved the creation of the new district, which will carve out about a quarter of the Pulaski school district’s student population.

The federal court approved an initial plan for the detachment in January, but U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. asked for more details to ensure the new school district would not increase racial segregation in Pulaski County schools.

The desegregation court case, which involves Little Rock, North Little Rock and Pulaski County school districts was brought by black students and their parents, who have become known as the “Joshua intervenors.”

The details presented to the judge on Friday include a proposal to split the money that the original district was getting from the state to promote desegregation. Jacksonville would get 26 percent of the per-student desegregation funding, and Pulaski would keep the remaining 74 percent.

The state desegregation money is slated to stop after the 2017-18 school year, when court supervision is expected to end.

Pulaski County district officials committed to spending whatever remains of the annual $20.8 million in state desegregation money on repairing and replacing school facilities. Voters will also be asked to approve a property tax increase in May to pay for any building costs beyond the desegregation award.

The Pulaski County district is expected to lose 25 percent of its students and 14 percent of its assessed property tax value when the Jacksonville district detaches by July 1, 2016. Student enrollment numbers and assessed property are used to determine state and local funding awards to school districts.

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Jacksonville’s population is 32.7 percent black and Pulaski County’s population is 35 percent black.

In a separate filing in the case Thursday, Marshall awarded the lawyers for the Joshua interveners, led by attorney John Walker, more than $785,000 in legal fees. The lawyers had asked for close to $3.3 million in fees and awards for work done in the case since 1993.