After several years of frustration, and a stint of homeschooling, this year I got together a small group of local parents of gifted kids to lobby the school district. We gave a presentation earlier this work that was surprisingly well received by the school board and we now have a commitment to creating a policy for early screening and gifted identification, which has been neglected for many years. We're thrilled! To be honest, I hadn't expected much in the way of action...the fiscal situation is grim, and my umpteen conversations with district administrators have gone nowhere, with lots of email and phone messages not even returned. Now, though, we see some hope, and I'm glad we've persevered. Hearing the stories of several local parents of gifted kids who have removed their children from public school because of the lack of gifted programming seems to have made a big difference--the district is highly motivated to boost enrollment. Strength in numbers! Thanks, everybody, for the support that this forum provides.
