Ponca City board approves revised gifted-education plan; budget details discussed
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Summary
The board approved language revisions to the district’s gifted-education plan and discussed program budget and site allocations. The meeting record includes stated budget ranges and site-allocation formulas; the board asked for a student count and total cost report.
The Ponca City Board of Education approved revisions to the district’s gifted-education (GT) plan, including adding project-based learning as a required component and listing optional components such as summer academies.
During discussion, administrators described how GT funding is allocated to sites and to district-level salaries. The transcript records that the total district expenditure for gifted services was described as “around 300 to 500,000,” and that elementary site allocations are roughly $1,200 plus $20 per identified child while secondary allocations were described as approximately $2,000 per grade level. Board members asked for a follow-up report showing the total number of identified students and a consolidated total cost for the program.
Board members also discussed how some district-wide expenditures that serve GT students (for example transportation to programs, AP programming, and certain orchestra or auditioned activities) can be paid from gifted funds even if not every student in a program is formally identified as gifted.
The motion to approve the revised GT plan passed on a roll-call vote. Board members asked district staff to provide a report on the total number of gifted-identified students and an itemized accounting of GT spending for the board’s next meeting.
District staff said site allocations are formula-driven and that the larger district total includes payroll and other central expenses in addition to the site-level discretionary amounts.