GILROY
– Parents on a mission to improve public education for their
gifted children met for the first time Wednesday, in a session
closed to school district officials but open to anyone willing to
join their cause.
GILROY – Parents on a mission to improve public education for their gifted children met for the first time Wednesday, in a session closed to school district officials but open to anyone willing to join their cause.
Frustrated parents stopped by the playground outside Luigi Aprea Elementary School Tuesday afternoon to pick up a 13-item to-do list that, once completed, will provide answers to long-asked questions about the future of Gifted And Talented Education (GATE) programs in Gilroy.
Meeting organizer Susan Bassi wants parents to volunteer time researching the 13 topics, answering questions ranging from what other districts are offering their GATE students to what it costs the Gilroy Unified School District to pay the people in charge of GATE programs.
“We’re trying to do the legwork the GUSD hasn’t done in the last few years,” Bassi said. “Once we have some solutions we’ll ask the district to implement them.”
Parents shocked the district two weeks ago by forming their own GATE coalition after an advisory meeting with district officials did not produce the results parents were looking for.
Parents want the district to increase the rigor of GATE instruction and have been frustrated with the district’s inability to produce an accurate waiting list of students who want to enter Rucker Elementary School.
Rucker is the district’s only full-time GATE school. GATE students elsewhere in the district attend regular courses supplemented by enrichment classes and activities.
In one of the parents group’s flyers, the district’s GATE pull-out program is called “appalling.”
Bassi, however, said she and other parents are pleased by the district’s response in recent days. By the end of last week, parents of gifted students received the first-ever GATE newsletter.
GATE director Joe Guzicki and Assistant Superintendent Jacki Horejs crafted the newsletter, providing a list of district-sponsored GATE meeting dates as well as answers to five frequently asked questions.
The newsletter is intended to be delivered quarterly or at least twice a year, Guzicki said.
“Parents are noticing there has been a marked improvement in communication by the district, but we need to see an improvement in the caliber of GATE offerings, too. Otherwise, it’s all just empty words.”
Bassi said parents who showed up Wednesday still expressed doubts that the GUSD could rebuild the GATE program to their satisfaction.
“People are discussing what private school options are out there for them,” Bassi said.
Meeting organizers intended Wednesday’s session to be more formal, but its afternoon start time made it difficult for many parents to attend.
The group will set up nighttime meetings soon, Bassi said.
