Bill to require gifted education screening in public schools passes Missouri House

By Annelise Hanshaw

Missouri Independent

A bill requiring public schools screen all students to determine if they qualify for gifted education by the time they reach the third grade passed the Missouri House on a 142-8 vote Monday.

It bolsters a state law requiring schools to provide gifted classes when at least 3% of its students are identified as gifted.

“When the legislation passed, we did not include how screening should take place and be completed,” said the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Brenda Shields in a House debate last week.

Shields, a Republican from St. Joseph, said some schools are not reaching the 3% threshold because they are not screening students. She estimates that 20,000 students that should qualify are not offered a gifted class.

Of the state’s 554 school districts, 227 offer gifted education, the education department reported in the bill’s fiscal note. Most of the districts that offer gifted services surround high population areas.

“These students have burdens. They are very young and different from their peers,” she said. “These are the students that want to dive deeper in a classroom activity, far beyond what the teacher or the rest of the class wants to do.”

The bill leaves flexibility for schools to assess students, directing them to look to a “body of evidence” showing a student’s intelligence, creativity or other gifted attributes. Three staff members trained in gifted education would review the information.

Lawmakers showed broad approval for the bill in initial discussions, with some concern surfacing about funding the screening process.

When the state’s formula for funding public schools was passed in 2005, gifted education funding changed from being a separate line item to part of the formula’s base calculation. As a result, the amount of state aid for gifted education is disconnected from the amount of students identified as gifted.

A committee is currently drafting changes to the public school funding formula and is considering adding additional funding per student identified as gifted. But changes are unlikely to take effect until fall 2028, so districts could have a minimum of two years with a new requirement and a formula that keeps gifted education funding largely flat.

The Lindbergh School District, in the bill’s fiscal note, estimated the cost of screening at $6.50 per student.

The bill is the fourth proposal approved by the House and in the hands of the Senate.