The Jacksonville/North Pulaski School Board voted Thursday to ask a federal judge whether an Arkansas Board of Education decision allowing an interdistrict student transfer complies with a 2014 desegregation case agreement.
The School Board's 5-0 vote at a special meeting to call on U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. comes after the state Education Board voted last week to permit a student who resides in the Jacksonville/North Pulaski district to attend school in the Cabot School District.
Marshall is the presiding judge in the 33-year-old Pulaski County school desegregation lawsuit that currently involves the Pulaski County Special and Jacksonville/North Pulaski school districts and black students known as the Joshua intervenors.
In January 2014, Marshall approved a settlement agreement in the long-running case that, in part, allowed the formation of the Jacksonville/North Pulaski district, carved out of the Pulaski County Special district. The settlement also obligated the parties in the agreement -- including the state of Arkansas -- to comply with the Arkansas Public School Choice Act of 2013, including the law's specific exemption from school choice for school districts in federal desegregation cases.
"There are no school districts other than [Pulaski County Special School District] involved in a more active desegregation case than we are and have a fresher desegregation court order," Scott Richardson, an attorney for the new district, told the School Board on Thursday.
"Once the court accepted the settlement agreement -- approved it -- it becomes an order of the court," Richardson said. "The court retains jurisdiction over all parties -- including the state -- to enforce the terms of that settlement agreement."
The state education board voted twice in the same July 14 meeting to grant Nacesha Dulaney's request that her daughter be allowed to attend Cabot schools -- even though the family resides in the Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District and the Jacksonville/North Pulaski district has claimed an exemption from participating in Arkansas School Choice Act student transfers.
The Cabot district had denied the Dulaney transfer request because of the Jacksonville/North Pulaski district's exemption.
The state education board's votes to allow the Dulaney transfer were contrary to the education board's votes earlier in the year in which it upheld the denial of requests from other Jacksonville families for student transfers to the Cabot district.
At the July meeting, the state education board also permitted the transfer of three children in the El Dorado School District to the Parkers Chapel School District, despite El Dorado's claim to an exemption because it is a subject to a federal school desegregation order.
The Arkansas School Choice Act of 2013, which was revised by lawmakers in 2015, generally allows students to attend schools in districts in which they do not reside, although there are some restrictions to that. For example, the district that would receive a transfer student must have adequate space and staff for the transfer student.
Additionally, the law says that if the student-transfer terms of the School Choice Act conflict with a provision of a school district's desegregation court order or a district court-approved desegregation plan, the terms of the court order or plan will prevail.
Daniel Gray, president of the Jacksonville/North Pulaski board, said Thursday that the district needs clarity from Marshall because he doesn't want to do anything that violates or jeopardizes the 2014 settlement.
"If the actions by the state last week are not in violation of the agreement that we have to abide by, I'd like for him to tell us that instead of speculation from the state," Gray said about the judge. "If we can seek clarity from him and he says it's OK, then we'll have another discussion. 'Let's get his opinion' is my opinion."
"I agree that Judge Marshall needs to be asked about this because in 2014 ... he was the one who signed off on it and agreed to the settlement," board member Jim Moore said. "I think the state board, in my opinion, is in contempt of court."
In response to a question from School Board member Marcia Dorenblaser about the state education board's reasoning, Richardson said that some state education board members have said they believe that the Jacksonville/North Pulaski district and other districts involved in desegregation cases should take the initiative to ask the presiding federal judges in their cases for an opinion on student transfers.
"I've tried to explain that federal courts don't issue advisory opinions," Richardson told the School Board. "You can't just go ask a federal court for its general opinion on a matter in which there is not a conflict. So this sets up a position of conflict that we can take to the court and say, 'We believe this conflicts with the settlement agreement. We believe the state board has agreed to and is ordered to abide by this exemption and they have now violated that agreement.'"
Richardson said he would submit a motion on the matter to the judge as soon as possible, probably next week. He anticipates support for the motion from the Pulaski County Special district and the Joshua intervenors. The state would have about 20 days to submit a written response to the judge. A court hearing and/or a decision from the judge would follow that.
Tony Wood, superintendent of the Jacksonville/North Pulaski district and a former Arkansas education commissioner, said after the meeting that, in going to court, the district is doing what, in essence, the state education board members wanted the district to do.
"I don't want it to be perceived as adversarial," Wood said about taking the matter to court.
Arkansas Department of Education staff said Thursday that one Jacksonville parent who was denied a transfer for her children has questioned the staff about reconsideration of the denial. The staff has also received an appeal of a transfer from another Jacksonville family that is likely to be placed on the state education board's August board meeting agenda.
Metro on 07/22/2016