Attorneys are exchanging briefs in the case involving the cyber charter school bills the Penn Hills School District paid for five of the children of U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum.

An earlier timeline had called for the parties to submit a joint stipulation of facts and exhibits this week to a hearing examiner from the office of general counsel in the governor's office.

Al Maiello, attorney for the school district, said, however, that counsel for the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, which Santorum's children attended online, asked to file some preliminary motions and briefs challenging the timeliness of the complaint.

"The findings of fact and conclusions of law have been held in abeyance until such time as both parties brief the issue and the hearing examiner rules on that," said Maiello.

Santorum and his wife, Karen, removed their children from the cyber school last fall after questions were raised about their residency. At the time, Santorum said they would home-school their children, which they had done previously.

The Santorums own a Penn Hills home but spend most of their time at a home they own in Virginia.

Under state law, a school district must pay a fee set by the state for each resident who attends a charter school.