GeoTools 15-RC1 / GeoServer 2.9-RC1 will be released Monday, May 2. This will become the new stable release in place of GeoTools 14.x / GeoServer 2.8.x, which will move to maintenance status.
GeoTools 13.x / GeoServer 2.7.x will move to unsupported status, and will no longer be included in ares builds.
Torben