Appeals to the Commissioner of Education — Hearings and Appeals Division

The Division of Hearing and Appeals hears appeals regarding:

1. Parties aggrieved by the school laws of this state; or actions or decisions of any school board of trustees that violates the school laws of this state under Texas Education Code Section 7.057;
2. Educators who have been terminated or received a notice of proposed contract termination, non-renewal, and/or suspension without pay under Texas Education Code Section Ch. 21;
3. School district's requests for an extension of time to begin operation of a video camera under Texas Education Code Section 29.022;
4. Denial of video surveillance of special education settings appeals under Texas Education Code Section 29.022;
5. Detachment and Annexation appeals under Texas Education Code Section 13.051; and
6. School District or charter school's decision to deny a request to enroll a student in an electronic course offered through the state virtual school network under Texas Education Code Section 26.0031. 

The Division of Hearings and Appeals prepared general instructions by the type of appeal, sample forms, references to citations related to appeals, and a series of frequently asked questions about filing an appeal with the Commissioner of Education.  Please note the instructions and sample forms are only intended to serve as a guide and parties are not required to use the sample forms.  Parties are encouraged to consult an attorney before initiating an appeal to the Commissioner of Education.  All filings submitted for an appeal should be submitted to the Division of Hearing and Appeals.

• If you filed a parent/student, or educator grievance with the school board and a final school board decision has been made, you may file an appeal to the Commissioner of Education if the decision violates the school laws of this state or a provision of a written employment contract.  Please refer to the instructions for Filing a 7.057 Grievance Appeal webpage for more information.

• Educators who received a school board's decision not to renew the educator's term contract; to terminate a continuing or term contract; to terminate a probationary contract at the end of the contract's term; or decision to suspend without pay a probationary, term or continuing contract may file an appeal in writing to the Commissioner of Education.  Please refer to the instructions for Filing a Ch. 21 Appeal webpage for more information.

• Educators who received notice of the proposed termination of a continuing contract at any time; to terminate or nonrenew a term contract; to terminate the educator's probationary contract before the end of the contract period; or suspend a term or continuing contract without pay may request the assignment of an Independent Hearing Examiner.  In some circumstances, a school district can decide to hear the nonrenewal of a term contract by a method other than using an Independent Hearing Examiner.  Please refer to the instructions for filing a request for a hearing before an Independent Hearing Examiner webpage for more information.
  • List of Certified Independent Hearing Examiners
  • Complaints against Independent Hearing Examiners

• School district that received a request to install a video camera can request an extension to begin operation of the video cameras.  Please refer to the instruction for requesting an extension of time to begin operating a video camera webpage for more information.

• Authorized parties who's request for placement of video and audio surveillance was denied may file an appeal to the Commissioner of Education after local remedies are exhausted.    Please refer to the denial of surveillance of special education setting webpage for more information.

• Territory may be detached from a school district and annexed to another school district that is contiguous to the detached territory.  If both affected districts disapprove the petition, the decisions may not be appealed.  Please refer to the Detachment and Annexation webpage for more information.

• A Parent or Student may appeal to the Commissioner of Education a school districts decision to deny a request to enroll a student in an electric course offered through the state virtual school network.    Please refer to the appeal of requests for virtual school network course webpage for more information.

• Sample Forms for Filing an Appeal

• Education Law & Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to Appeals Before the Commissioner

• Frequently Asked Questions

The Division of Hearings and Appeals accepts electronically filed documents.  All filings may be submitted through the electronic filing portal at the link below.

• Electronic Filing System

The Division of Hearings and Appeals maintains a database of previously issued Commissioner's Decisions and Independent Hearing Examiner Recommendations.  You can find the searchable database at the link below.

• Decisions of the Commissioner and Independent Hearing Examiner Recommendation Database