By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Will Pulaski County Special School District get its share of $70 million in desegregation money for the upcoming school year?
The latest answer is no as U.S. District Judge Brian Miller ruled Thursday against numerous filings from the county’s three districts to let them at least have the money for the upcoming school year.
For PCSSD, that’s between $17 million and $20 million, including a $2-million payment that was expected later this month.
The district, along with Little Rock and North Little Rock school districts, will appeal. They have signed teacher contacts and prepared 2011-2012 school budgets based on receiving the money.
The Little Rock School District had filed a motion with the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals to have Miller release the money, but the court said recently that it was too early for it to get involved since the districts had appealed directly to the judge.
But now that the judge has stood firm in his ruling, the districts will be looking for the appeals court to side with them.
Little Rock has already re-filed its request with the 8th Circuit to have Judge Miller release the desegregation funds.
Sam Jones, attorney for PCSSD, said the district would file its appeal by Tuesday and expected North Little Rock to do the same.
“If we both get our appeals in, I expect the Eighth Circuit, because it has already seen Little Rock’s request, to rule one way or the other by the end of next week. I don’t have a crystal ball, but I’d be surprised if there’s much of a delay,” he said.
The attorney also said the district was working on a number of contingency plans in the meantime. “I know the district is working on a plan A, plan B and plan C and may run out of alphabet letters before this is through,” Jones said.
In his one-page order, Miller said he heard all issues the parties would raise on appeal and fully weighed the positions of the parties before his May 19 ruling.
“Additionally, it is unlikely the school districts will succeed on the merits and no party will suffer irreparable harm if the motions are denied,” Miller said.
In his ruling last month, Miller said the funding had become an impediment to desegregation.
In that May 19 decision, Miller did not remove PCSSD from federal oversight, but did think it made no sense to continue to pay the three districts for their continued desegregation failures.
Jones explained that because Little Rock School District had already been released from federal oversight, it can only appeal the stoppage of the money, while PCSSD can appeal the funding, plus other aspects of Miller’s May 19 ruling that stated the district was not in compliance with required desegregation issues.
