I agree with spaghetti re the requirements, but otoh, I've seen even more silly requirements in our own school district so I'm not entirely surprised. A few random thoughts for you:
I'm not familiar with MAP testing - can you get a standard score or something other than a percentile, and can you get a range of error along with it? You might find the range of error in her score could put her up nearer the cutoff range (or maybe over the cutoff).
I don't know if it will help or make school staff annoyed so it's advice that needs to be weighted based on your knowledge of the personalities involved, but one thing you could potentially pitch is that if they agree to let her into the advanced class and she has struggles, she's got excellent support at home in that she has a parent who's an English teacher.
Keep asking. Keep plugging away. Our school district also has what appear to be very strict cutoffs for the various gifted programs, and fwiw, I can't tell you how many times I've heard of kids who got into our programs because their parents advocated loudly and didn't give up.
Good luck!
polarbear
