Hearings and Appeals

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 violate 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 hearings and appeals division does not hear appeals related to educator certification matters. All matters related to educator certification should contact TEA's Educator Certification Division or the State Board of Educator Certification, Enforcement Division.

On this page, you will find 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 any of the above-referenced appeals should be submitted to the Division of Hearing and Appeals.

2025 Independent Hearing Examiner — Now Accepting Applications

The Texas Education Agency seeks qualified attorneys to act as independent hearing examiners in local school district employment hearings.  The independent hearing examiner will preside over hearings involving a nonrenewal or termination of educator employment contracts.  The examiner will issue a recommendation for the school district’s board of trustees to consider.  Hearing requests are assigned on a regional basis.  Hearing Examiners are paid by the school district and may charge $125 an hour up to $10,000, plus allowable expenses.  The number of assignments an examiner will receive varies from year to year and from region to region.  One mandatory training session will be held via webcast for qualifying attorneys.  To be considered as an independent hearing examiner you are required to complete specific continuing legal education requirements throughout the year.  Selected hearing examiners will be required to submit to a national criminal history check as a condition of continued certification.  For additional information, interested attorneys may review TEC Chapter 21, subchapter F, and 19 TAC Chapter 157, specifically Subchapters D and DD.  The application must be submitted by Friday, November 1, 2024, no later than 5:00 p.m.  Applications may be emailed or mailed.  Email submission is strongly encouraged.  The email address to send your application is Christina.Eischens@tea.texas.gov.  For questions, contact the Hearings and Appeals Division at (512) 463-0489 or email Christina.Eischens@tea.state.tx.us.

• Application for Independent Hearing Examiner
• Recertification Affidavit for Independent Hearing Examiners

Appeals Processes

Grievance 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.

Chapter 21 Appeals

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 before 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.

Request for Independent Hearing Examiner

Educators who received notice of the proposed decision to: (1) terminate the teacher's continuing contract at any time; (2) terminate the teacher's probationary or term contract before the end of the contract period; and (3) suspend the teacher 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

Detachment and Annexation Appeals

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.

Virtual School Network Appeals

A parent or student may appeal to the Commissioner of Education a school district's 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.

Request for Extension of Time to Begin the Operation of a Video Camera

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

Denial of Surveillance of Special Education Setting

Authorized parties whose 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.

Forms, Statutes & Rules, and FAQ's

You are welcome to use these sample forms for filing an appeal, but they are not required.

We provided weblinks to relevant Education Law & Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to Appeals Before the Commissioner.

Please review our Frequently Asked Questions.

Electronically Filed Documents

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

Commissioner's Decisions Database

The Division of Hearings and Appeals maintains a database of previously issued Commissioner's Decisions and Independent Hearing Examiner Recommendations:

• Decisions of the Commissioner and Independent Hearing Examiner Recommendation Database