Judge sets discussion in desegregation suit

Board seats, student arrests at issue

A federal judge agreed Tuesday to hold a conference that attorneys for black students in the decades-long Pulaski County school desegregation lawsuit had sought to discuss "urgent" concerns.

State Rep. John Walker, D-Little Rock, and Robert Pressman of Lexington, Mass., asked U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. for the discussion on matters including the forthcoming Sept. 15 election of School Board members for the new Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District and the compliance of the new district's backers with the desegregation obligations in the Pulaski County Special School District's desegregation Plan 2000.

In Tuesday's order, Marshall said he will take responses to the conference request by July 15. He scheduled the conference for July 20 at 1:30 p.m. in courtroom 1A at the federal court building in Little Rock.

Specifically, the attorneys for black students known as the Joshua intervenors wanted seven single-member election zones for the Jacksonville/North Pulaski district -- rather than the current five, along with two at-large zones -- so as not to dilute the participation of black voters, they said.

The district will remain a part of the Pulaski County Special district until July 2016.

The Joshua intervenors also plan to raise issues on the number of students attending Jacksonville-area schools who have been arrested during the past school year. In an exhibit, the attorneys said the numbers show "the gross racial disparity regarding the most cruel discipline, incarceration, particularly of African-American males."

By late Tuesday afternoon, only attorneys representing the Pulaski County Special district had responded to the conference request, saying they had no objection.

Metro on 07/08/2015

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