Gifted and Talented

The Hondo Independent School District follows the state guidelines as described in The Texas State Plan and Guidelines for the Education of the Gifted and Talented. The Education Service Center (Region 20) in San Antonio has closely supervised the development of identification procedures as a means of insuring compliance with current policies and research in the field of gifted and talented education.

Identification Procedures

Hondo Independent School District has board approval on the identification procedures and processes of students K-11 for the services of the Gifted/Talented. These procedures meet state requirements (§29.121 & TAC 89.1) and have been designed to ensure the identification of any student who demonstrates educational need for the services under the established guidelines.

Reassessment

Hondo ISD shall not perform routine reassessments. EHBB (Local)

Transfer Students

When a student identified as gifted by a previous school district enrolls in the District, the District shall place the student in the District's program for gifted and talented students. The District shall assess the student during the next annual screening period using the District's established identification criteria, unless the student was previously evaluated with a District approved test. The selection committee shall determine if continued placement in the District's program for gifted and talented students is appropriate.

Furlough

Students who are unable to maintain satisfactory performance within the structure of the gifted and talented program may be placed on a "leave of absence" for a designated period of time deemed appropriate by the committee without being exited. The purpose of such a furlough is to provide the student an opportunity to attain performance goals. A furlough may be granted at the request of the student, parent or the District. At the end of the furlough, the student's progress shall be reassessed, and the student may re-enter the gifted program, be removed from the program, or placed on another furlough. Furloughs are designed to be short-term and temporary and should never be used for an entire school year.

Exiting Procedures

Every effort is made to ensure that students are accurately evaluated for GT services. Student performance in the program shall be monitored. A student shall be removed from the program at any time the Gifted/Talented committee determines it is in the student's best interest and a furlough has been ineffective. If a parent requests their child be removed from the GT program, the Gifted/Talented committee shall grant the request. Once a student is exited from the program he/she must adhere to the identification procedures and exhibit educational need to be readmitted.