15-779.03. Additional assistance for gifted programs

A. School districts that comply with section 15-779.01 and that submit evidence that all district teachers who have primary responsibility for teaching gifted pupils have obtained or are working toward obtaining the appropriate certification endorsement as required by the state board of education may apply to the department of education for additional funding for gifted programs equal to seventy-five dollars per pupil for four per cent of the district's student count, or two thousand dollars, whichever is more. As an alternate to the individual district application process, a governing board may request that a county school superintendent apply on its behalf as part of an educational consortium. The consortium may include school districts in more than one county. If additional monies are available after funding all eligible school districts or educational consortia, the additional monies shall be used to increase the per pupil amount for each district or educational consortium funded. If sufficient monies are not available to meet all requests, the state board of education shall determine the allocation of monies based on the comprehensiveness across grade levels, appropriateness to the population being served, utility and demonstrated effectiveness of the scope and sequence and the likelihood of the school district's or educational consortium's proposed program successfully meeting the needs of the gifted pupils. A school district shall include the monies it receives for gifted programs and services under this section in the special projects section of the budget.

B. School districts shall conduct evaluation studies of their programs for the gifted and submit information to the department of education regarding the results of their studies. The department shall develop evaluation guidelines, reporting forms, procedures and timelines.

C. Monies distributed pursuant to this section shall supplement and not supplant monies from other sources.