The Amarillo Independent School District Board of Trustees took no action Thursday after meeting behind closed doors to discuss ongoing federal litigation stemming from the 2022 death of former Amarillo High School student Jaxson Mendoza.
Trustees entered executive session during a special meeting to consult with legal counsel regarding the pending lawsuit filed by Mendoza's family. After returning to open session, the board adjourned without taking action.
Following the meeting, Board President Doyle Corder declined to comment, citing legal restrictions because of the pending litigation.
The board meeting came the same day U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk denied Amarillo ISD's motion to dismiss the case, allowing the lawsuit to move forward toward a jury trial scheduled for July 28.
Mendoza, 14, died in August 2022 after suffering a prolonged epileptic episode while warming up on the Amarillo High School track. According to court documents, his family alleges the district failed to follow his emergency seizure action plan by not administering prescribed rescue medication during the medical emergency.
The lawsuit, filed in 2024, alleges Amarillo ISD violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act by failing to provide appropriate accommodations for Mendoza's disability.
Court records state Jaxson's seizure action plan required school personnel to administer rescue medication if he experienced a seizure lasting more than five minutes. According to the family's allegations, his epileptic episode lasted approximately 17 minutes before his father arrived.
Amarillo ISD has argued staff members did not administer the medication because they believed Mendoza's seizure action plan did not address cluster seizures—multiple shorter seizures separated by brief pauses—and therefore did not require intervention under the circumstances.
In Thursday's order, Kacsmaryk rejected the district's request to dismiss the case before trial, writing that factual disputes should instead be decided by a jury.
According to the order, Amarillo ISD did not cite legal authority establishing that a seizure can only be defined as one continuous episode.
The judge wrote that a jury could reasonably determine the district's response was insufficient.
"Here, a jury could easily conclude that AISD's actions on August 24, 2022, were 'clearly unreasonable.' Jaxson suffered an epileptic episode that caused him to lie suffering on the ground for nearly twenty minutes. Almost a dozen AISD employees, including two nurses, huddled around Jaxson while he was seizing. But not one administered his rescue medication—even though it 'was on the ground sitting right beside Jaxson.'"
Kacsmaryk also ruled that jurors will determine whether Mendoza experienced a seizure lasting longer than five minutes, whether Amarillo ISD failed to follow his seizure action plan by not administering medication, and whether the district intentionally discriminated against him because of his disability.
The case is scheduled for a pretrial conference on July 14, with jury selection and trial set to begin July 28 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Amarillo Division.
