Allegations of foot-dragging in Montgomery County have led parents and a school board member to blast school administrators for excessive secrecy and an absence of progress on the county’s much-vaunted gifted and talented program.
The program, last updated 13 years ago, is at the center of a debate about how to best educate the county’s brightest students. Some parents and administrators favor more separation by ability level. Others are focused on providing similar high standards for all students.
Since 2004, the Board of Education has been moving to revise the policy, but actions have been delayed.
“I see a tentativeness on the part of the board leadership to addresscontroversial issues,” said Sharon Cox, chairwoman of the school board’s policy committee.
Cox, who has served on the board since 2000, will not seek re-election in November.
Parents weary of the delays and unhappy with current policy question the board’s and Superintendent Jerry Weast’s transparency. Many think Weast has given lip service to parents while crafting flaccid policies internally to be rubber-stamped by the school board.
“I understand the concern,” Cox said. Is the committee “really an opportunity for public input, or an opportunity to make the system’s record unassailable by the public?”
“It’s stupid to think the advisory committee will be making policy,” said Fred Stichnoth, who has two children in the school system and attends the monthly meetings. “I should’ve seen from the get-go their real role is to be the canary in the mine — so the district knows if the parents will go ballistic.”
Marty Creel, director of gifted instruction for the district, said policy changes are necessarily complicated.
“It’s not like we’re not always making improvements. We’re very busy providing accelerated and enriched instruction to all students at all times.”
