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Almost five months after the federal court hearing for the Chambers County School District consolidation, Judge W. Keith Watkins has not returned with a ruling on the location of the new consolidated high school.

Assistant Superintendent David Owen confirmed that since the court documents were submitted for review by both the school board and the Legal Defense Fund from the NAACP, there has been no update. 

According to court records, all briefs were submitted on April 14. Initially, it was thought the final ruling from Watkins could come by mid-May.

“We don’t have any indication from the attorneys or the judge on a ruling at all at this time … We’re patiently waiting on the decision,” Owen said. 

In November, Superintendent Casey Chambley had announced the new high school would be constructed at a site submitted by the city of Valley.

In January, a court hearing was held in Montgomery where judge heard evidence about how the school district decided on a location for the new consolidated school. 

During the hearing, attorneys from the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund submitted evidence arguing that LaFayette’s submitted sites were overlooked and the district did not comply with the original order that requires the site to be somewhere along Highway 50.