Prissy, I've had that same experience of being told by the school and the district that things are a certain way when in fact it is not written down anywhere. They tend to interpret the laws in ways that are most convenient. So I would definitely run this up the flagpole and contact the gifted coordinator at FL DOE: Donnajo.Smith@fldoe.org. She is very good at replying to email.
Another idea for you Belle is having your son participate in the school's Odyssey of the Mind team. They're putting the teams together now.
