It doesn't sound quite to gifted underachiever, but the school sounds intent on getting him there. If he is willing and able to apply himself for material at the correct level of challenge, then he hasn't lost it yet.
What does minimal effort mean? How would the rest of his teacher's class behave if they had to sit in a kindergarten class 5 of 6 hours every day? How much effort would they put in? Would they be cooperative? Which party here (teacher vs. student) is putting in the least appropriate effort?
I'm of the school of thought of calling shenanigans on the whole needs to learn how to put in effort stuff. In my opinion our kids will do it naturally when properly challenged. If that is a real skill to teach, then make it a class and teach "putting up with inanity" as a one hour a week class.
