ADMINISTRATIVE

Changes in legislation enacted by the General Assembly in 1998 and 1999 have prompted
the Department of Education to revise both the annual report and the local plan for 
the education of the gifted that school divisions are required to submit.  In 1998, 
Virginia Code was modified to include the following provisions: 

     With such funds as may be appropriated for this purpose, the 
     Department of Education shall conduct an annual review of all 
     local gifted programs, on such date as it may determine, to 
     ensure full implementation and compliance with federal and state 
     laws and regulations governing gifted education. [§22.1-18.1 of 
     the Code of Virginia]

In 1999, the General Assembly changed the language that related to the 
responsibilities of the local advisory committee for the education of the gifted. 
Formerly required under Virginia Board of Education regulations, the committee's 
responsibilities were modified and made part of the Code of Virginia as follows:
	
     Each school board shall appoint, in accordance with the 
     regulations of the Board of Education, a local advisory 
     committee on gifted education. The local advisory committee 
     on gifted education shall annually review the local plan for 
     the education of gifted students, including revisions, and 
     determine the extent to which the plan for the previous year 
     was implemented. The comments and recommendations of the local 
     advisory committee on gifted education shall be submitted in 
     writing directly to the school board and the superintendent. 
     [§22.1-18.1 of the Code of Virginia]


Annual Report
The Department of Education, in consultation with representatives from the school 
divisions, has modified the annual report to enable the collection of required data.
Questions have been developed and are referenced to the applicable citations from 
the Regulations Governing Educational Services for Gifted Students. Each division 
will provide the Department of Education with information about its students 
identified as gifted, the programs in which they are served, and the current 
training of its teachers of the gifted.  These reports will be due on July 30th of 
each year. 

Local Plan for the Education of the Gifted 
Gifted education coordinators in the Commonwealth participated in the revision of 
the local plan for the education of the gifted. The revised local plan will now be 
in effect for a period of five years.  The first of the new plans will be due on 
September 30, 2000, from the school divisions listed on Attachment A.  These plans 
will expire on June 30, 2005.  The second round of local plans, from divisions listed
in Attachment B, will be due on June 30, 2001, and they will expire on June 30, 2006.


Copies of the revised annual report and accompanying guidesheet and the revised local
plan for the education of the gifted and its guidesheet are attached with this memo,
as Attachments C-F. 

Pertinent information and all attachments are also being sent to the gifted education
coordinator in each school division. By January 15, 2000, versions of these documents
will be available in PDF format from the Virginia Department of Education homepage at
http://www.pen.k12.va.us.  If you have questions about these modifications or about 
gifted education, please contact Barbara McGonagill, specialist, Office of Secondary 
Instruction, 804/225-2884.  Dr. McGonagill may be reached via email at 
bmcgonag@pen.k12.va.us.

PDS/bkm 
Attachments:	A hard copy of this memo and its attachment
		will be sent to the superintendent's office.