Currently part of the highly troubled Pulaski County Special School District, Jacksonville High School may experience more autonomy in its future, as residents in Jacksonville voted to separate from the district in order to form a unitary and autonomous Jacksonville school district. Previously, the district's involvement in a desegregation lawsuit hindered progress to this end, but a judge has since ruled that the district and other districts involved in the initial lawsuit are released from desegregation penalties. The new Jacksonville North Pulaski School District is expected to be full force by the 2016-2017 school year.