Robert Scott, in His Official Capacity as Commissioner of Education for the State of Texas v. Presidio I.S.D.
This case involves an appeal by Robert Scott, the Commissioner of Education for the State of Texas, against Presidio Independent School District (I.S.D.). The central dispute is whether the Commissioner's consent is a jurisdictional prerequisite for filing a judicial appeal in Travis County district court under education code section 21.307(a)(2). Presidio I.S.D. had filed a judicial appeal in Travis County after the Commissioner ruled in favor of a terminated teacher, but without obtaining the Commissioner's consent. The Commissioner subsequently filed a plea to the jurisdiction, which the district court denied. The Texas Court of Appeals, Third District, at Austin, reversed the district court's order, concluding that the Commissioner's consent was indeed a necessary statutory prerequisite for jurisdiction. Consequently, the appellate court dismissed Presidio I.S.D.'s judicial appeal for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.