In Vantage Systems Design, Inc. v. Raymondville Independent School Dist., __S.W.3d__, 2009 WL 944194 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi 2009, pet. filed), a court of appeals held that a school district did not waive its governmental immunity to a breach of contract claim merely by accepting a contractor's proposal.

      The Raymondville Independent School District ("RISD") accepted bids for the installation of a wireless internet network. Vantage Systems Design, Inc. ("Vantage") submitted a $144,168.50 bid and was awarded the project by RISD. Although Vantage sent a signed contract to RISD, RISD never executed it. Subsequently RISD replaced Vantage with a new contractor, despite having issued at least one payment to Vantage. Vantage sued for breach of contract.

      Both the trial court and the court of appeals held that because Vantage produced no evidence of a signed and executed contract between the parties, RISD could not have waived governmental immunity pursuant to Section 271.152 the Texas Local Government Code. The court reasoned that because the statute requires a properly executed contract between the parties, in the absence of same there was no evidence that RISD had waived governmental immunity.

      Vantage also argued that RISD waived governmental immunity by invoking the trial court's jurisdiction, specifically in that RISD filed counterclaims against Vantage and pursued discovery for years before seeking to avoid the court's jurisdiction by non-suiting on the counterclaims. The court of appeals disagreed, holding instead that subject matter jurisdiction was not something that could be conferred or waived by the parties, and therefore that RISD, through its non-suit of its counterclaims, regained governmental immunity.