Appeals of Placement or Exit Decisions

A parent, student, or educator may appeal any final decision of the selection committee regarding selection for or exit from the gifted and talented program. Any subsequent appeals shall be made in accordance with FNG(LOCAL) beginning at Level Two. Parents or students who wish to appeal decisions of the campus committee concerning gifted and talented placement or exit should follow these procedures:

Appeals shall be made first to the selection committee. Contact the Advanced Academics Specialist, counselor, or principal at the school to request a conference to express concerns regarding the decision. The purpose of this conference will be to review the criteria and the process by which the decision was made and to determine whether it is appropriate to reconvene the committee to review the case and whether it is necessary to collect additional information to review. This does not imply a reversal of the committee’s decision.
If the appeal is not satisfied at the campus level, contact the district Advanced Academics Coordinator at Central Administration. The coordinator will review the data to determine that district procedures were appropriately followed and may request the committee to reconvene to review the decision or to collect additional information for review. This does not imply a reversal of the committee’s decision. The Coordinator may participate as a member of the review committee but may not override the committee’s decision.
Further appeals should be made as Level Two complaints (Board Policy FNG LOCAL).

At no time will any single individual make a decision to override the campus committee decision; this would be in violation of state law and TEA Guidelines, which stipulate that identification and exit decisions are a committee process. Review is based on the committee’s proper consideration of criteria and observance of procedures in the identification or exit process.