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Hernando Today

Gifted Program Set For Tomorrow

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By LINNEA BROWN, Hernando Today

Published: January 22, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - Two local support organizations for gifted children will host a program tomorrow aimed at arming local parents with the tools they need to help their children succeed.

The program "A toolkit for success: A parent's guide to advocating for their gifted child" will take place at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Hernando High School.

The event will feature guest speaker Donnajo Smith, director of gifted services for the Florida Department of Education.

Topics will include: Rights and responsibilities of the Educational Plan, or EP; what to expect from gifted services; how to advocate for a gifted child and motivating gifted underachievers. There will also be a question and answer session.

It is sponsored by Partners Allied for Gifted Education and Support of Hernando County and the Citrus Organization for the Gifted, out of Citrus County.
Hernando Beach resident Cindy Gustafson, director of PAGES of Hernando, explained the main focus of the evening will be on the gifted student's EP. Many parents are not aware of the direct level of involvement they can have during the process - a role that enables them to effectively advocate for their child to ensure that their child's academic needs are met.

"The EP is probably one of the most powerful tools a parent has at their disposal, and probably the least understood," she said.

Developed by the district, the EP is a written report designed to provide a clear picture of each gifted student, how the student is gifted and the student's special needs.

However, many parents of gifted children don't realize their basic rights, such as the fact that they can request a review of their child's plan at any time, or the basic goals and progress marks that should be included in the plan, Gustafson said.

"If a parent or their child is having difficulties, they don't always think, 'I'll check my child's EP,'" she said. "It's hard to (know how to help) if you don't know what your rights or responsibilities are, or what's available to ask for."

A student is defined as "gifted" if he or she scores at least two standard points above the mean IQ score, and passes at least two sections on a state IQ test.

Two weeks ago, the Hernando County School Board's gifted education task force chose Challenger K-8 School of Mathematics and Science in Spring Hill as the site for the county's future gifted education center, set to open this August.

Though the task force's site recommendation must still pass through the school board on Feb. 5, the center will place more than 400 of the county's kindergarten-through-8th grade students in gifted classes in one location, instead of the district's current means of offering separate classes at each school.

Once identified, students who qualify as "gifted" fall under the umbrella of exceptional student education, or ESE, and bring in about $2,100 more in state per-student funding.

This year, the district reported 2.5 percent of its elementary students as gifted. The state average is 3.7. However, many other students may be unidentified.

Hernando High School is located at700 Bell Ave. in Brooksville.

For more information or to reserve a seat, call 352-597-3825 or e-mail rsvp@pagesofhernando.org.

Reporter Linnea Brown can be reached at 352-544-5289 or lbrown@hernandotoday.com.

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