Opinion ID: 2596737
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: School District Standing

Text: We do not address the constitutional question of whether the school districts have standing. The court of appeals held sua sponte that the plaintiff parents possess standing, and neither the plaintiffs nor the defendants contest that holding on appeal. Standing represents a challenge to the court's subject matter jurisdiction. Because we have subject matter jurisdiction due to the standing of the plaintiff parents, it is not necessary to address the standing of parties bringing the same claims as parties with standing. See Mesa County Bd. of County Comm'rs v. State, 203 P.3d 519, 526 n. 6 (Colo.2009). The plaintiff school districts raise the same claims as the individual plaintiff parents. The continued participation of the school districts in this case is similar to the role of permissive intervenors and does not require standing independent of plaintiffs with standing. See N. Poudre Irr. Co. v. Hinderlider, 112 Colo. 467, 475-76, 150 P.2d 304, 308-309 (1944) (quoting SEC v. U.S. Realty & Imp. Co., 310 U.S. 434, 459, 60 S.Ct. 1044, 84 L.Ed. 1293 (1940)). Therefore, the court need not evaluate the plaintiff school districts' standing provided that they raise claims identical to those of the plaintiff parents. [9] See Crawford v. McLaughlin, 172 Colo. 366, 370-71, 473 P.2d 725, 728 (1970); In re Title, Ballot Title, Submission Clause, & Summary for 1999-2000 No. 215, 3 P.3d 11, 14-15 (Colo.2000). Thus, the school districts may continue as plaintiffs in this case, and we reverse the judgment of the court of appeals on this issue.