The federal judge in the Gardendale School separation case today approved an extended deadline for the completion of expert witness depositions to be completed, as requested by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

The new deadline was issued following a conference call between the parties and the judge on Tuesday afternoon.

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund had requested the deadline be extended to July 29 because of the illness of one of its experts.

The amended order also says, “The parties have indicated that they wish to explore the option of negotiating a jointly proposed plan of separation for the City of Gardendale. The parties shall meet as soon as practical to discuss whether a jointly proposed plan of separation can be reached. By no later than June 15, 2016, the parties shall submit a status report to the Court.”

The details of any possible joint plans have not been discussed publicly and Jefferson County School Superintendent Craig Pouncey said at a community meeting at Corner High School on Tuesday night that the board of education still maintained that Gardendale does not have a right to take the existing schools from the county system.

If the parties are not able to reach an agreement to submit to the court, each party that objects to Gardendale’s plan for separation must file those objections by Aug. 26, 2016. Gardendale would then have until Sept. 9 to file a response to any objections.

A hearing would then be set on the filings of the parties. The order states that, if a joint-agreement is submitted, the court may set a hearing sooner than the Sept. 9 deadline.