Meeting Summary
Virginia Board of Education
Meeting Summary
March 26, 2009
Regulations Governing Education Services for Gifted Students
The Board adopted revisions to the Regulations Governing Educational Services for Gifted Students (8 VAC 20-40-10 et.seq.). A set of revisions were originally proposed in 2007 and included:
• Additions to and revisions of definitions for critical terms;
• Realignment of aspects of the screening, referral, identification, and placement components of the 1993 regulations;
• Addition of parental rights, notification, consent, and appeals information;
• Revision of components of the local plan for the education of the gifted;
• Revision of the role and function of the local advisory committee for the education of the gifted to comply with Section 22.1-18.l of the Code of Virginia; and
• Addition of annual report expectations to comply with Section 22.1-18.1 of the Code of Virginia.
Those revisions were submitted for public comment. Based on the responses received by the Board the following additional substantive changes to those 2007 revisions were adopted in the final regulations:
8 VAC20-40-40 Screening, referral, identification, and placement:
• School divisions with identification in general intellectual aptitude shall provide service options from kindergarten through twelfth grade.
• Identification in a specific academic aptitude area may occur as assessment instruments exist to support identification. If the school division elects to identify students in one or more specific academic aptitude areas, it shall provide service options through twelfth grade.
• Eligibility status of a student shall be determined within 90 instructional days of receipt of a parent’s or legal guardian’s consent for assessment.
8 VAC20-40-60 Local plan, local advisory committee, and annual report:
• Each school board shall submit a comprehensive plan for the education of gifted students to the Department of Education for technical review on a schedule determined by the Department.
• Each school board shall approve a comprehensive plan for the education of gifted students that includes the components identified in the regulations.
• School divisions must assure that the selected and administered testing and assessment materials have been evaluated by the developers for cultural, racial, and linguistic biases.
8 VAC20-40-70 Funding:
• A statement was added to reflect that current funding for the education of gifted students is governed by the Appropriation Act.
Reports
The Board received the Statewide Performance Report for Career and Technical Education, a report on the data elements to be included in the Virginia Cohort Report, and an update on the Web-Based Standards of Learning (SOL) Testing Program. In addition, they received a report on amendments to the 2008-2010 Biennial Budget adopted by the 2009 General Assembly and funding for public education under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).