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| Updated: 5/29/2012 7:56 pm |
Published: 5/29/2012 5:35 pm |
LITTLE ROCK, AR - A federal judge declared the North Little Rock School District unitary on Tuesday.
In his 2-page order, federal judge D. Price Marshall congratulated North Little Rock schools on its achievement.
"This is an important step in the ultimate resolution of this long-running case," the order says.
The Little Rock School District was declared unitary in 2007.
The Pulaski County Special School District has yet to be declared unitary.
The three county school districts receive approximately $70 million a year in funding to address desegregation efforts and programs.
Press release
North Little Rock, Arkansas…(7:15 pm)….Late this afternoon the North Little Rock School District received a formal order from the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Arkansas declaring the North Little Rock School District unitary. The North Little Rock School District was declared unitary last fall but had not received the formal order from the Court. In the order released today, the Court congratulated the District on the achievement of unitary status and noted the important step this order represented in the ultimate resolution of this long-running desegregation case.
While the North Little Rock School District will continue to provide a World Class education for all students, the Court discharged the school district from further supervision by the court and from further monitoring by the Office of Desegregation Monitoring. The North Little Rock Board of Education can now operate the District as it sees fit-answerable to no one except the District's students, parents, and voters. “We are committed to continue our efforts that allowed us to achieve unitary status and provide the best education for all of our students.” Ken Kirspel, Superintendent of North Little Rock Schools.
