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Parents and former students urge Wichita schools to restore daily gifted services at Colvin Elementary
Summary
Multiple public commenters, including a parent and a former valedictorian, told the board removing Colvin Elementary as a daily gifted site would disproportionately harm underrepresented students and that busing students 8 miles to a magnet site reduces access.
Several speakers at the June 1 Wichita Board of Education meeting urged the district to reconsider discontinuing daily gifted services at Colvin Elementary, arguing the change would intensify inequities for students who lack access to out‑of‑school enrichment.
"My name is Michaela Thompson, and I will discuss the excellence gap and removal of daily gifted services from Colvin Elementary," Thompson said during public comment. She told the board that Colvin — where roughly 94% of students receive free or reduced‑price lunch and a majority are Hispanic and receive ELL services — should remain a daily gifted site so that high‑achieving students who are historically underrepresented in gifted programs can access enrichment without an 8‑mile bus trip to a magnet site.
Thompson noted that while daily gifted services will still be offered to qualifying students "as is legally required," families at Colvin have declined busing assignments to Christa McAuliffe Academy because they do not want to move their children away from their neighborhood schools and supports. She presented demographic comparisons showing a substantial shift in free‑and‑reduced‑price lunch and ELL percentages between Colvin and the magnet site.
A former student, Jesus Delgado Rodriguez, echoed that testimony. Delgado Rodriguez, who said he attended Wichita Public Schools and was a 2024 valedictorian, credited in‑school gifted and IB programs with his academic success and asked the board to consider the consequences of removing in‑house services for students in high‑need neighborhoods.
Board members did not take formal action on the Colvin gifted configuration at the meeting. District presenters and staff later emphasized that students who qualify will continue to receive legally required services, but public commenters said that logistical burdens and inequitable demographic impacts mean the current plan would reduce access for the district’s most vulnerable high‑achieving students.
What’s next: the item remains in public comment and will require follow up by staff and the board; public commenters asked the district to consider site‑based solutions, set a plan for students with severe behavioral needs if programs are eliminated, and engage families and educators before final decisions.
