July 24, 2014 1:45 PM

Updated school finance timeline -- briefs due tomorrow, some think Dietz ruling mid-August

Appeals will linger meaning Lege will have to craft budget anticipating budget impact of court rulings

Parties in the ongoing school finance lawsuit are expected to file final briefs with District Judge John Dietz tomorrow, and the optimistic lawyers among the plaintiffs expect a decision could be issued as early as mid-August.

What we do know is the number of court exhibits, witnesses and findings of the current ongoing school finance case dwarf the last school finance trial in Dietz’s court. This was a 16-week court case with 100 witnesses on the stand, 5,700 admitted exhibits and a draft document from Dietz that was pushing 350 pages and most likely will top 400 pages before it’s all over. Findings from the last school finance trial were well under 200 pages.

Wayne Pierce of the Equity Center, who was about to take the stage at a conference on school finance and legal issues, said he was optimistic about the outcome.

By Kimberly Reeves