LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A federal judge has declared the North Little Rock School District substantially desegregated, complying with an appeals court ruling last year that the schools could be released from court supervision.
U.S. District Judge D.P. Marshall on Tuesday ruled that the school district was unitary. Marshall's two page ruling says that the district is now "answerable to no one except the district's students, parents and voters."
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in December ruled that the district should be declared unitary, reversing a previous judge's denial of the district's request.
The state in March asked Marshall to release it from the desegregation settlement agreement with the North Little Rock, Little Rock and Pulaski County school districts. Marshall has not ruled on that request.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)