A Jacksonville public school system may be carved out of the existing Pulaski County Special School District under a resolution approved by school board members.
Residents of Jacksonville, home to the Little Rock Air Force Base, have pushed for the measure for years and Tuesday's board vote reversed the panel's long-standing opposition to the move.
The new Jacksonville-North Pulaski School District could enroll about 6,000 students, now served by the state's second-largest school district of 18,000. Little Rock School District is the largest in Arkansas.
The resolution empowers county school officials to negotiate with the city of Jacksonville to create the new district, unless directed otherwise by the state Board of Education.
The resolution also acknowledges that the new district could be created as part of current negotiations among the three districts in Pulaski County, state officials, and representatives of black students to end a 25-year-old school desegregation case.
The negotiations resulted from a 2007 state law, which includes provisions for the possible formation of a Jacksonville school system. U.S. District Judge William Wilson Jr. would have to approve any settlement in the desegregation case, including creation of a Jacksonville district.
Also pending before Wilson is a county board request that the district be declared unitary, or desegregated.
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Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, http://www.arkansasonline.com
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A Jacksonville public school system may be carved out of the existing Pulaski County Special School District under a resolution approved by school board members.
Residents of Jacksonville, home to the Little Rock Air Force Base, have pushed for the measure for years and Tuesday's board vote reversed the panel's long-standing opposition to the move.
The new Jacksonville-North Pulaski School District could enroll about 6,000 students, now served by the state's second-largest school district of 18,000. Little Rock School District is the largest in Arkansas.
The resolution empowers county school officials to negotiate with the city of Jacksonville to create the new district, unless directed otherwise by the state Board of Education.
The resolution also acknowledges that the new district could be created as part of current negotiations among the three districts in Pulaski County, state officials, and representatives of black students to end a 25-year-old school desegregation case.
The negotiations resulted from a 2007 state law, which includes provisions for the possible formation of a Jacksonville school system. U.S. District Judge William Wilson Jr. would have to approve any settlement in the desegregation case, including creation of a Jacksonville district.
Also pending before Wilson is a county board request that the district be declared unitary, or desegregated.
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Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, http://www.arkansasonline.com
