On behalf of the Colonial Heights City Schools Gifted Advisory Committee, I am writing to you in response to the proposed changes to the regulations governing gifted education throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. While the Colonial Heights Gifted Advisory Committee recognizes the support and unwavering commitment the Virginia Board of Education has provided to gifted education throughout the Commonwealth, it would like to express concern it has with some of the proposed regulatory changes.

           

            The revisions propose that a division’s School Board replace the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) as the governing body that is responsible for reviewing and approving local gifted education. The changes propose that such reviews take place annually. The committee is concerned with these changes for the following reasons:

           

            1. It has been particularly beneficial for school systems to have their gifted programs reviewed by an outside entity. The VDOE approval process has traditionally provided schools with “quality control-like” measures every five years. Without this  process, no central authority will be responsible for ensuring that they are in compliance with state gifted education regulations.

 

            2. Educators and community stakeholders invest significant time and effort to create their five-year plans for gifted education. During that process, plans for gifted education are often strengthened through peer review and recommendations received from other professionals in the field which would be less likely to occur if plans were developed annually.  Shifting to a yearly School Board approval process will eliminate the insights that often emerge during the current peer review process.

 

            3. It is not productive to develop a plan on an annual basis. 

 

            4. School Board members are generally not considered to be experts in the field of gifted education and, thus, are not always able to provide research-based feedback for gifted program plans.

           

            The committee is also concerned with the repeal of the funding language which previously stated, "State funds administered by the DOE for the education of gifted students shall be used to support only those activities identified in the school division's plan [for gifted education] as approved by the Board of Education.” The committee fears that the absence of such clear regulatory language could result in funds originally intended for gifted education being used for other purposes.

 

            In addition, the committee would also like to address the timeframe in which the proposed changes would require schools to review and make a decision about student referrals for participation in gifted education programs. The proposed changes require schools to make such decisions within “30 business days” of students being referred.  Because the school year calendar is distinctively different than the business calendar, we support the use of the term “school days” rather than “business days.”

            The Colonial Heights Gifted Advisory Board understands that the Virginia Board of Education is a responsive body that welcomes community input. On behalf of gifted education throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, we thank you for efforts and respectively ask that you to reconsider the issues addressed above. 

 

Sincerely, 

           

Joseph A. Douglas