AUSTIN - When a school district fails to meet statewide expectations, the Education Code authorizes the Texas Education Agency commissioner to assist in improving the district’s performance, the Texas Supreme Court recently opined.
The high court’s Jan. 13 opinion stems from an ultra vires (acting beyond one’s legal authority) suit brought by the Houston Independent School District.
Court records show TEA filed a petition for review with the Supreme Court on Feb. 24, 2021, arguing that an appellate court erred by affirming a trial court’s order to grant the HISD’s temporary injunction. According to TEA’s petition, the granting of the injunction constituted a denial of TEA’s plea to the jurisdiction.
TEA's petition argued that the Texas Education Code authorizes the commissioner to appoint a conservator and board of managers when a campus consistently fails to meet academic performance standards.
“Certain HISD campuses consistently failed to achieve acceptable academic performance ratings, and an investigation revealed that the board of trustees violated state law,” TEA’s petition states.
The Supreme Court reversed the court of appeals’ judgment, vacated the temporary injunction, and directed the trial court to consider the commissioner’s plea to the jurisdiction.
“When a school district fails to meet statewide expectations designed to ensure the effective education of Texas schoolchildren, the Education Code authorizes the Texas Education Agency Commissioner to assist in improving the district’s performance through a variety of remedial measures,” the opinion states.
“Under the governing law, the District’s claims do not support a temporary injunction against the Commissioner of the Texas Education Agency and his appointed conservator.”
Supreme Court case No. 21-0194