SAN ANTONIO – A Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School District trustee is suing the district he represents in an effort to restore his access to district property and funds, court records obtained Tuesday by KSAT Investigates show.
Trustee Matthew Short, who records show is representing himself, filed the lawsuit June 18 for a temporary restraining order against Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD, superintendent Paige A. Meloni and SCUC ISD School Board President Letticia Sever in Guadalupe County District Court.
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The lawsuit is in response to a February vote by fellow SCUCISD board members in response to Short’s employment dispute with Judson ISD.
In January, KSAT Investigates reported that Judson ISD police investigated Short. Records show he was accused of abandoning several children on Nov. 17 at Salinas Elementary, where he taught. The district confirmed it placed Short on leave Nov. 19, barring him from all Judson ISD classrooms.
SCUCISD board meeting video in February showed trustees voted 6-1 to restrict Short from using district funds or facilities — with the exception of scheduled board meetings. Short was the lone elected trustee who voted against the decision.
During that February meeting, Sever said she asked Short to resign as a result of “the negative attention swirling around his employment dispute with Judson ISD and the challenges his dispute was creating for our board and district.”
According to the lawsuit, Short said the employment issue with Judson ISD “did not arise from [his] service on the SCUCISD Board and did not involve a finding by SCUCISD that [he] violated a trustee policy or failed to perform a trustee duty.”
Short was also censured by the board in May, which is a public reprimand.
In late April, Short resigned from Judson ISD. Records show he is not eligible to be rehired by the district.
According documents included in Short’s lawsuit, Judson ISD Police Chief Teresa Ramon emailed Short in April saying the district had contacted the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office in December 2025 to pursue a possible charge of Abandoning or Endangering Child. Records show the Judson ISD Police Department closed the case because it did not meet the requirements to file charges because staff members were still on campus, the children were left outside in the daytime and there was no bad weather.
“The (Bexar County Assistant District Attorney) stated the students were not placed under circumstances that exposed them to an unreasonable risk of harm,” Ramon wrote in the email.
Records show Short believes the restrictions have made it harder for him to “perform ordinary trustee duties.” The lawsuit states Short is treated as a “restricted board member” while allowing other trustees access, adding that he now has to request public information and is no longer given access to an open records request log provided to other trustees.
The lawsuit states the restrictions have also prevented Short from attending events such as graduation and denied him from getting training provided to other trustees.
Court records state the Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD board has declined to rescind Short’s restriction.
According to the lawsuit, Short is asking a judge to suspend the restriction, restore his access to the district’s public information request log and allow him to access district property for “legitimate official trustee duties.”
“Our focus is on providing a high-quality education for the students we serve,” said Deanna Jackson, SCUCISD’s executive director of communications. “These proceedings are a matter of public record, and we believe they speak for themselves.”
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.
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