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

A Barr Middle School student, J.S., made an anonymous social-media post from home that said “Tomorrow gonna be hella fire… be there (School),” which another anonymous user followed with a post including a gun emoji. The police notified school administration.
The next day the school increased security, conducted searches and interviews, and received 100+ parent calls; several students were checked out of school.
J.S. admitted making the “hella fire” post (which she said meant “good” or “cool”), was suspended for 15 days, and the principal testified the post was the sole basis for removal.
The superintendent and the school board each upheld the suspension after administrative hearings. J.S. timely filed a petition for district-court review under the Student Discipline Act, but the record does not show the board was served with the petition and summons. The board filed a voluntary appearance in district court and stated it waived service of summons.
The Hall County District Court affirmed the suspension on the merits, finding the post could be interpreted as violent and caused substantial disruption. The Nebraska Supreme Court sua sponte questioned subject-matter jurisdiction under the appeal statute and ordered briefing on that issue.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the district court had subject-matter jurisdiction under § 79-289 when petitioner filed a petition but did not serve the board with a summons and copy of the petition	J.S.: voluntary appearance by the board (under § 25-516.01) is equivalent to service, and the board’s statement waived summons, satisfying § 79-289	GIPS: parties cannot confer subject-matter jurisdiction by consent; voluntary appearance only affects personal jurisdiction, not subject-matter jurisdiction	Held: The statutory prerequisites (filing plus serving summons and petition on the board) are mandatory; failure to serve the board prevented district court subject-matter jurisdiction, so the court’s judgment (and the appeal) is void and must be dismissed

Medicine Creek v. Middle Republican NRD, 296 Neb. 1 (Neb. 2017) (appellate court must determine jurisdictional questions as matter of law)
Concordia Teachers College v. Neb. Dept. of Labor, 252 Neb. 504 (Neb. 1997) (statutory requirement to serve summons within statutory timeframe is jurisdictional for APA review)
Abdouch v. Lopez, 285 Neb. 718 (Neb. 2013) (distinguishing personal jurisdiction from subject-matter jurisdiction)