J.S. v. Grand Island Public Schools, 297 Neb. 347

A Barr Middle School student, J.S., posted an anonymous social-media message from home saying “Tomorrow gonna be hella fire … be there (School),” which police notified the school about. Another anonymous post referenced a gun, but J.S. did not make that post.
The next day the school increased security, police searched the campus, received over 100 parental calls, and some parents kept children home; administration concluded the posts caused substantial disruption.
J.S. admitted making the “hella fire” post, explained it was slang meaning “cool” and intended sarcastically in a conversation about skipping school, and was suspended for 15 days.
J.S. administratively appealed; the superintendent and the school board both upheld the suspension after hearings.
J.S. timely filed a petition in district court seeking review under the Student Discipline Act, but the record shows she did not serve the board with a summons and copy of the petition; the board filed a voluntary appearance and stated it waived service.
The district court affirmed the suspension on the merits, but the Supreme Court sua sponte questioned subject matter jurisdiction under § 79-289 because statutory review requires both filing the petition and serving summons/copy of the petition on the board.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether district court acquired subject matter jurisdiction under the Student Discipline Act when petitioner filed a petition but did not serve the board with summons and petition	J.S.: voluntary appearance by the board and its waiver of service under § 25-516.01 equated to service and satisfied § 79-289	GIPS: parties cannot confer subject matter jurisdiction; voluntary appearance does not satisfy statutory service requirement under § 79-289	Court held no subject matter jurisdiction because statutory prerequisites require both filing and serving a summons and copy of the petition on the board; voluntary appearance cannot confer subject matter jurisdiction; appeal dismissed

Concordia Teachers College v. Nebraska Department of Labor, 252 Neb. 504 (1997) (statutory requirement to serve summons within specified time is mandatory for district court to acquire subject matter jurisdiction on administrative review)
Medicine Creek v. Middle Republican NRD, 296 Neb. 1 (2017) (appellate courts must determine jurisdiction sua sponte and resolve jurisdictional questions of law independently)
Clarke v. First National Bank of Omaha, 296 Neb. 632 (2017) (parties cannot confer subject matter jurisdiction by consent or waiver)