I joined these boards in August 2011 with a thread entitled something like "Public with IEP or Private". A search may bring it up along with a ton of input from many experienced members. I have often wondered if we made the right choice when dealing with some of the difficulties with personnel at the public. I think the private would have been much better for the giftedness but the LD issues would not have been properly addressed, at least without crippling out of pocket expenses. The common wisdom among 2e parents here is that the early grades really tend to focus more on the other "e". Focus on the giftedness seems to start in late 4th to 5th grade, or so the voices of wisdom have told me.
My DD received a ton of spec Ed supports from the public that we would have had to pay for out of pocket if we had gone to the private. (Our district provides minimal consultation support to kids at privates located within their borders but the private we were looking at was located in a district that would have done nothing for her.) Entering 1st you will probably still be working on getting a handle on the extent of his disabilities. FAPE, IDEA, LRE, IEPs, etc can all be your friends if you go public. Privates are not required to accomodate. There have also been parents here who have reported getting stuck with high tuition bills even when it's been clear the prIvate can't or won't meet the child's needs.
So all that being said - and I now consider myself one of those voices of experience - I would probably go with the public and keep a very close eye on the situation. Get all you can in terms evaluations, services, accomodations differentiation, etc. See what is working and what is not. If you feel you have a handle on the LD situation you can then approach the privates later, IEP in hand, and ask specific questions about their ability to meet his needs.
DD is now in an out of district placement getting both E's addressed. As much as I loved the private I now realize it probably would not have worked for her LD issues. As much anguish as we went through with public I understand it was the only way to get her situation properly addressed. I can't remember if your DS has the same extreme variations in scores as my DD so you may have more flexibility but this was our experience.
Good luck!
