Momtofour... they want to start the year off next year with more of the 4th grade skills. They specifically mentioned multiplication and division. I would be fine with him doing multiplication/division at a higher level which is part of the 5th grade curriculum. The errors he's making are common gifted rushing through, skipping steps errors. He understands the math conceptually.
The root problem is their lack of understanding of gifted education. They think more of the same at the same level is what he needs to 'master' the skill. They don't get that gifted students need large, complicated problems at higher levels and that this will take care of the lower level skills.
I think one thing to consider when advocating at school is age and separating out skills in quick math fact recall vs conceptual ability. From what I've seen and understand, being able to accurately and quickly spit out math facts is partially a developmental thing that comes with maturity, and no amount of drill is really going to get it to sink in until a child has reached that point - and for some kids, it's not going to happen until 10 years old or maybe later. OTOH, a gifted student can easily be light-years ahead in ability to understand mathematical concepts and pick them up quickly. I would want to be sure that he's not being held back due to developing automaticity of math facts.
polarbear
