SECTIONS 52200-52212 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 52200-52212

52200. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that it is in the
public interest to support unique opportunities for high-achieving
and underachieving pupils in the public elementary and secondary
schools of California who are identified as gifted and talented. The
Legislature further declares its intent that special efforts be made
to ensure that pupils from economically disadvantaged and varying
cultural backgrounds be provided with full participation in these
unique opportunities.
(b) In addition, it is the intent of the Legislature to improve
the quality of existing programs for gifted and talented pupils and
to provide for experimentation in the delivery of the programs,
including a variety of programmatic approaches and cost levels. It is
also the intent of the Legislature to provide for the identification
of gifted and talented pupils by individual school districts in a
variety of ways so long as this does not serve to diminish the
quality of programs for individual pupils.
(c) The Legislature is committed to the belief that programs for
gifted and talented pupils should include all of the following:
(1) Differentiated opportunities for learning commensurate with
the gifted and talented pupil's particular abilities and talents.
(2) Alternative learning environments in which gifted and talented
pupils can acquire skills and understanding at advanced ideological
and creative levels commensurate with their potentials.
(3) Elements that help gifted and talented pupils develop
sensitivity and responsibility to others.
(4) Elements that help to develop a commitment in gifted and
talented pupils to constructive ethical standards.
(5) Elements that assist gifted and talented pupils to develop
self-generating problem-solving abilities to expand each pupil's
awareness of choices for satisfying contributions in his or her
environment.
(6) Elements that help gifted and talented pupils develop
realistic, healthy self-concepts.

52201. (a) "Gifted and talented pupil," as used in this chapter,
means a pupil enrolled in a public elementary or secondary school of
this state who is identified as possessing demonstrated or potential
abilities that give evidence of high performance capability as
defined pursuant to Section 52202.
(b) "Highly gifted pupil" means a gifted and talented pupil who
has achieved a measured intelligence quotient of 150 or more points
on an assessment of intelligence administered by qualified personnel
or has demonstrated extraordinary aptitude and achievement in
language arts, mathematics, science, or other academic subjects, as
evaluated and confirmed by both the pupil's teacher and principal.
Highly gifted pupils shall generally constitute not more than 1
percent of the pupil population.
(c) "Program" means an appropriately differentiated curriculum
provided by a district for gifted and talented pupils which meets the
standards established pursuant to this chapter, and also includes
the identification of these pupils.
(d) "Participating pupil" means a pupil identified as a gifted and
talented pupil who takes part in a program for at least one semester
of a school year.

52202. For the purposes of this chapter, the demonstrated or
potential abilities that give evidence of high performance capability
shall be defined by each school district governing board in
accordance with regulations established by the State Board of
Education. Each district shall use one or more of the following
categories in defining the capability: intellectual, creative,
specific academic, or leadership ability; high achievement;
performing and visual arts talent; or any other criterion that meets
the standards set forth by the State Board of Education pursuant to
Section 52203. Each governing board shall also consider identifying
as gifted or talented any pupil who has transferred from a district
in which he or she was identified as a gifted and talented pupil.

52203. The State Board of Education shall maintain regulations
governing the following areas:
(a) Procedures that school district governing boards shall use in
identifying gifted and talented pupils who are eligible for the
program and in providing programs pursuant to this chapter.
(b) Definitions of special day classes, part-time grouping,
enrichment activities, cluster grouping, independent study,
acceleration, postsecondary education opportunities and other
programs that the State Board of Education deems appropriate.
(c) Establishment of allowable indirect cost expenditures that may
be funded by gifted and talented program funds.
(d) Other areas that the board deems necessary to implement fully
the intent and provisions of this chapter.

52205. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall:
(a) Apportion funds pursuant to this chapter to each district for
which an application to offer programs pursuant to this chapter has
been approved by the State Board of Education according to this
chapter and regulations adopted by the board.
(b) Assist school district governing boards, upon their request,
to design, implement, and evaluate programs funded under this
chapter.
(c) Ensure that the expenditure of funds authorized for programs
pursuant to this chapter is consistent with this chapter.
(d) Encourage the development of locally designed, innovative
programs for gifted and talented pupils.
(e) Assist districts in the development and implementation of
staff development programs related to gifted and talented pupils.
(f) Encourage the development of procedures that assure the
ongoing participation of parents of gifted and talented pupils in the
planning and evaluation of programs funded pursuant to this chapter.

52206. (a) The governing boards of school districts that elect to
provide programs pursuant to this chapter may establish programs for
gifted and talented pupils consisting of special day classes,
part-time groupings, and cluster groupings, consistent with the
regulations of the State Board of Education. These programs shall be
planned and organized as an integrated, differentiated learning
experience within the regular school day, and may be augmented or
supplemented with other differentiated activities related to the core
curriculum using such strategies as independent study, acceleration,
postsecondary education, and enrichment.
(b) Each participating governing board shall determine the most
appropriate curricular components for participating pupils within its
district.
(c) For all programs for gifted and talented pupils, including
programs for pupils with high creative capabilities and talents in
the performing and visual arts, each participating governing board
shall concentrate part of its curriculum on providing participating
pupils with an academic component and, where appropriate, with
instruction in basic skills.

52207. Subject to any terms and conditions that may be agreed upon,
each governing board providing programs pursuant to this chapter may
contract with another school district to furnish programs or may
contract to educate pupils living in other districts.
The county superintendent may, with the approval of the county
board of education and the governing board of the school district
involved, provide programs pursuant to this chapter, and
transportation therefor, for gifted and talented pupils who reside in
any school district. For these purposes, the terms "school district"
and "governing board of a school district," as used in this chapter,
shall be deemed to include the county superintendent of schools.

52209. The governing board of any school district that provides a
program for gifted and talented pupils pursuant to this chapter may:
(a) Conduct programs, seminars, and classes for gifted and
talented pupils within or without the boundaries of the school
district and, for that purpose, employ instructors, supervisors, and
other personnel and provide necessary equipment and supplies.
(b) Transport or arrange for transportation of pupils to or from
educational institutions where regularly scheduled programs and
classes are being conducted.
Attendance of pupils at these programs, seminars, and classes
shall be included in computing the average daily attendance of the
district for the purposes of apportionments from the State School
Fund.
Funds provided in support of this chapter shall be used solely for
the purposes of this chapter. Allowances provided in any fiscal year
but not expended in that year may be expended in subsequent fiscal
years.

52210. The governing board of a school district, in providing
programs pursuant to this chapter, may enter into agreements with a
county superintendent of schools to conduct programs for gifted and
talented pupils enrolled in the schools of the district.

52211. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall, beginning in
the 2001-02 school year, apportion funds to school districts
pursuant to the provisions of this section. The superintendent shall
perform the following calculations:
(a) Divide the total funding available for gifted and talented
education (GATE) by the statewide total units of average daily
attendance in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, at the
second principle apportionment of the prior year, for all school
districts participating in the GATE program in the current year.
(b) Multiply the dollar amount computed in subdivision (a) by the
average daily attendance at the second principle apportionment of the
prior year for each participating school district.
(c) No school district with fewer than 1,500 pupils in average
daily attendance shall receive less to support its GATE program than
two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) or the amount it received
in 1998-99, whichever is greater.
(d) No district shall receive less per average daily attendance
than the amount it received per average daily attendance in the
1999-2000 school year.
(e) The dollar amount in subdivision (c) shall be increased
annually by the percentage inflation adjustment provided to the
revenue limits of unified school districts of over 1,500 pupils in
average daily attendance.

52212. (a) (1) Each applicant school district shall submit an
application for approval for a proposed program for gifted and
talented pupils to the State Board of Education. The application
shall be submitted in the form and manner prescribed by the
Superintendent of Public Instruction. An application shall be
approved for a period of one, two, or three years, or denied, based
on the quality of the plan, in accordance with criteria adopted by
the State Board of Education. Those criteria shall be reviewed by the
board at least once every four years and shall address, but are not
limited to, the elements of program design, identification,
curriculum and instruction, social and emotional development,
professional development, parent and community involvement, program
assessment and budgeting. The application shall include budget
information including separate data on identification and program
costs, and any other data required by the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to administer and evaluate the program effectively. Each
time a school district submits an application for renewal of its GATE
authorization, the school district shall submit a program assessment
in accordance with criteria adopted by the state board.
(2) Each participating governing board shall maintain auditable
records.
(3) Each applicant school district shall designate, in its
application to the State Board of Education, a person with
responsibility for the development, identification procedure, and
implementation of the local program for gifted and talented pupils,
fiscal management, and the collection of auditable records for the
independent evaluation.
(4) Applications for district programs shall be developed by the
State Department of Education and made available to districts no
later than April 1 of each year. The application shall not be part of
the consolidated application.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the state may approve an
application for a period of five years, if following a site
validation of the application by the department, it determines that
the districts's program for gifted and talented pupils is exemplary.