Mike Morath, in His Official Capacity as Texas Commissioner of Education and La Villa Independent School District v. Dr. Paz Elizondo
This text of Mike Morath, in His Official Capacity as Texas Commissioner of Education and La Villa Independent School District v. Dr. Paz Elizondo (Mike Morath, in His Official Capacity as Texas Commissioner of Education and La Villa Independent School District v. Dr. Paz Elizondo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.
Opinion
3/14/2025 1:31 PM Velva L. Price District Clerk Travis County CAUSE NO. D-1-GN-22-002025 D-1-GN-22-002025 Selina Hamilton
DR. PAZ ELIZONDO, § IN THE DISTRICTFILED COURT IN OF Plaintiff, § 15th COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS § 3/18/2025 10:12:14 AM v. § TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE § Clerk MIKE MORATH, TEXAS § COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION, § AND LA VILLA INDEPENDENT § SCHOOL DISTRICT, § Defendants. § 455TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
NOTICE OF APPEAL OF DEFENDANT MIKE MORATH, TEXAS COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION
1. Cause No. D-1-GN-22-002025, styled Dr. Paz Elizondo v. Mike Morath, in
his official capacity as Texas Commissioner of Education and La Villa Independent School District,
was filed in the 455th Judicial District Court of Travis County, Texas.
2. The Hon. Maya Guerra Gamble, presiding judge of the 459th District
Court of Travis County, signed an order on February 12, 2025, reversing the
Commissioner’s decision in Docket No. 049-R10-07-2021 and dismissing Dr.
Elizondo’s purported declaratory judgment claim.1
1 Commissioner Morath and La Villa Independent School District appealed the First Amended Final Judgment. See Cause No. 03-23-00125-CV, styled Mike Morath, in his official capacity as Texas Commissioner of Education and La Villa Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Dr. Paz Elizondo. After the completion of briefing, the Third Court of Appeals questioned its jurisdiction to resolve the appeal and abated the appeal, remanding for the trial court to clarify whether it had intended to dismiss Dr. Elizondo’s declaratory judgment claim. In response, the trial court signed the Second Amended Final Judgment expressly dismissing the declaratory judgment claim on February 12, 2025. Consequently, the Fifteenth Court of Appeals has exclusive jurisdiction over this appeal. See Tex. Gov’t Code § 22.220(d)(1). 3. Defendant Mike Morath, in his official capacity as Texas Commissioner
of Education, desires to appeal that portion of the Second Amended Final Judgment
reversing his decision to the Fifteenth Court of Appeals.
Dated: March 14, 2025
Respectfully submitted,
KEN PAXTON Attorney General of Texas BRENT WEBSTER First Assistant Attorney General RALPH MOLINA Deputy First Assistant Attorney General AUSTIN KINGHORN Deputy Attorney General for Civil Litigation ERNEST C. GARCIA Chief, Administrative Law Division /s/ Karen L. Watkins KAREN L. WATKINS Assistant Attorney General State Bar 20927425 OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE LAW DIVISION P.O. Box 12548 Austin, Texas 78711-2548 Telephone: (512) 475-4208 Facsimile: (512) 320-0167 E-mail: karen.watkins@oag.texas.gov
Attorneys for Defendant Mike Morath, Texas Commissioner of Education
2 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing document was served on March 14, 2025, on the following attorneys-in-charge, by e-service:
RUBEN R. PEÑA DAVID CAMPBELL State Bar No. 15740900 State Bar No. 24057033 LAW OFFICES OF RUBEN R. PEÑA, P.C. THOMPSON & HORTON 222 W. Harrison, Suite B 8300 N. MoPac Expwy., Suite 220 Harlingen, Texas 78550 Austin, Texas 78759 Tel.: (956) 496-2060 Tel.: (512) 615-2350 ruben@rubenpenalaw.com Fax: (713) 583-8884 ATTORNEY FOR PETITIONER, dcampbell@thompsonhorton.com DR. PAZ ELIZONDO COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT LA VILLA INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
/s/ Karen L. Watkins KAREN L. WATKINS Attorney for Defendant
3 Automated Certificate of eService This automated certificate of service was created by the efiling system. The filer served this document via email generated by the efiling system on the date and to the persons listed below. The rules governing certificates of service have not changed. Filers must still provide a certificate of service that complies with all applicable rules.
Jeff Lutz on behalf of Karen Watkins Bar No. 20927425 jeff.lutz@oag.texas.gov Envelope ID: 98477085 Filing Code Description: Notice of Appeal Filing Description: NOTICE OF APPEAL OF DEFENDANT MIKE MORATH, TEXAS COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION Status as of 3/14/2025 4:05 PM CST
Associated Case Party: LA VILLA INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
Name BarNumber Email TimestampSubmitted Status
Kristi Godden 24079577 Kristi.Godden@utsa.edu 3/14/2025 1:31:22 PM SENT
Kristy Alonzo kalonzo@thompsonhorton.com 3/14/2025 1:31:22 PM SENT
Eden Ramirez eramirez@808west.com 3/14/2025 1:31:22 PM SENT
David J.Campbell dcampbell@thompsonhorton.com 3/14/2025 1:31:22 PM SENT
Kate French kfrench@thompsonhorton.com 3/14/2025 1:31:22 PM SENT
Johan Holter jholter@808west.com 3/14/2025 1:31:22 PM SENT
David Campbell dcampbell@808west.com 3/14/2025 1:31:22 PM SENT
Cassandra Cottrell ccottrell@808west.com 3/14/2025 1:31:22 PM SENT
Kathryn French kfrench@808west.com 3/14/2025 1:31:22 PM SENT
Associated Case Party: PAZ ELIZONDO
Ruben Pena 15740900 ruben@rubenpenalaw.com 3/14/2025 1:31:22 PM SENT
Associated Case Party: MIKE MORATHTEXAS COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION
Jeff Lutz jeff.lutz@oag.texas.gov 3/14/2025 1:31:22 PM SENT
Karen Watkins karen.watkins@oag.texas.gov 3/14/2025 1:31:22 PM SENT
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Mike Morath, in His Official Capacity as Texas Commissioner of Education and La Villa Independent School District v. Dr. Paz Elizondo, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mike-morath-in-his-official-capacity-as-texas-commissioner-of-education-texapp-2025.