Their curriculum calls for specially trained teachers challenging material and unique classroom supplies.
But the strained budget covering the needs of the state's Academically or Intellectually Gifted students might have been partially diverted elsewhere in the past few years.
After receiving complaints from AIG parents the N.C. Office of the State Auditor released a report last week that shed light on a lack of state oversight of AIG funding" revealing four unnamed school districts that spent a large percentage of their AIG budgets on non-AIG expenses.
""I think it was not mal-intent"" said Elissa Brown, AIG consultant for the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. I think those districts served their students in regular classrooms.""
But for State Auditor Leslie Merritt"" the fact that AIG-allocated funds are not utilized for their specific purpose is a cause for concern.
""I believe that taxpayers' money should be used to educate students on every skill-level" and for some AIG students this just isn't happening as it was intended" Merritt stated in a press release.
Merritt found that fund distribution is overseen only at the county level, according to a 1996 state statute that hasn't been revised.
Although DPI reviews local allocation plans, it has no authority to enforce its own recommendations.
I think the audit will help the state in terms of moving toward more monitoring of funding and of programming" Brown said.
I think it's a good thing" 'cause I think it will benefit the students it's intending to benefit.""
Brown said that she had been concerned about DPI's lack of oversight before the audit report and that the department is planning to respond to the findings.
""We are looking internally at a reorganization" and I think it's a good time for this audit to come out and for DPI to be reflective on how it can best respond she said.
The report also noted that the state provides AIG funding only for up to 4 percent of N.C. students.
Brown said many districts have to allocate their own funding for AIG programs that serve more students than the state's set ratio.
(Orange County) spends every penny that the state gives them on gifted students and they added quite a bit of additional local funding from their local budget" said Holly Clark, the AIG lead teacher for Orange County Schools.
I think if they did that they would want to make sure certainly that districts would be responsible for that money.""
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
