GATE coordinators to train other teachers to help gifted students

When the Bonsall Unified School District board approved an agreement with the Bonsall Teachers Association the stipends included $500 per year for the Gifted And Talented Education (GATE) coordinators at each school. Although GATE classes have been eliminated in the Bonsall district as well as in many other school districts, the stipend approved Dec. 8 will allow the GATE coordinators to train the other teachers who have advanced students in their classes.

"What we want to do is to have a teacher who can help the other teachers," said BUSD superintendent Justin Cunningham. "We can get some special development."

In the past, school districts have received state funding for the GATE program which had previously been called the Mentally Gifted Minors program, but the state no longer provides GATE funding. "The state basically folded it," Cunningham said.

That funding allowed separate classes for GATE students, which the Bonsall district does not have. "We don't separate GATE students," Cunningham said.

The GATE coordinators at each school will provide training to all teachers at the school which will allow those teachers to work with the gifted students. "We really feel strongly that we need to serve these kids," Cunningham said.

The training of all teachers will eliminate the need for classes with only advanced students. "It won't be a separate curriculum," Cunningham said.

The Bonsall Unified School District has an emphasis on on-line learning which enables a student to study at his or her own pace. "With the technology, the learning is already personalized," Cunningham said.