Know Your Legal Rights in Gifted Education (continued)

• Accurate records must be maintained at each level. Meetings and decisions or lack thereof must be documented via written correspondence.
• Be informed about local and state rules, regulations, and laws, and do not depend on hearsay.
• Policies and procedures for the exact route for resolving an issue at this level can be found in the minutes of the local school board or in a district handbook.
• Keep detailed records because some issues may take along time to resolve.
• If an agreement cannot be reached at the local district level, then mediation may be the next step.

Mediation

The right to mediation through state statute and/or state board of education policy is available to those involved with gifted education in approximately 10 states (Karnes & Marquardt, 1991). Mediation provides an avenue to resolve an issue in an informal, amicable manner with the guidance of a trained mediator; it should involve a minimum of time, financial support, and stress. The goal of mediation is to produce a written formal document, signed by all parties, that settles the issue. The mediator is key to the process and is usually appointed by the state department of education or another state agency. He/she must have excellent interpersonal skills and communication techniques. High-level writing skills are necessary to record each step needed in the remedy. The selection and training of mediators, procedures for the meeting, and examples of poorly and well-written mediation agreements are described by Karnes and Marquardt (1991). When mediation is not a state provision or when an agreement cannot be reached, procedural due process is usually the next step.

Due Process

It is estimated that 28 states allow procedural due process for gifted children under the provisions of laws or regulations in special education applied to or specified for children with disabilities or under general provision (Coleman, Gallagher, & Foster, 1994).

Due process is very different from mediation. The costs of time, money, and emotional stress are greater. All decisions are the responsibility of the hearing officer. The report is written solely by the person conducting the hearing, and all aspects of the findings must be followed unless one of the parties appeals to the next highest level. The most common point of appeal is the chief state school officer or a person designated within the department of education.

The provisions for due process pertaining to gifted children vary from state to state. Variations appear in the level of the initial hearing, the selection and training of the hearing officers, jurisdiction, and the route of appeal. In the analysis of due process across states, there are also some shared common points: written prior notice to both parties about the time and date of the hearing, provisions for electronic or written transcripts of the hearing, parental choice about whether the hearing is open or closed, allowing the student in question to attend, opportunity for attorneys to be in attendance, and acceptance of expert witnesses for both sides to give testimony. After careful analysis of the due process procedures in all states and noting some irregularity, Karnes and Marquardt (1991) offered a model that avoids a conflict of interest in the process.