Community Questions and Updates for September 2025
9/16/2025 4:46 pm
The pending district changes have many SAGE members asking questions. In August, the GCISD community learned about the Education Master Planning Committee. SAGE Board members and GT families have been working diligently to get answers to the varied questions coming in from the GT community. We will add updates here, to centralize and keep pushing out information as we have it.
Get the full summary on the EMPC activities here.
Key Concerns for Your GT Student
Based on the proposed changes, here are a few things SAGE is keeping an eye on:
- Staffing and Class Sizes: A school consolidation could lead to fewer teachers or a less favorable student-to-teacher ratio, which might affect specialized services.
- The ASPIRE Academy: The district is exploring the idea of a stand-alone campus for highly gifted students. While this could offer benefits, it also raises concerns about isolating these students from the broader high school community, including their extracurriculars.
- Disruption to Programs: Any change to feeder patterns or facilities could disrupt the cohesion of established programs, like fine arts or athletic teams that have been built up over time.
Scanning the Education Master Planning Committee meeting agendas and presentations can give you greater insight into the decisions that still have to be made.
GCISD District Documents - EMPC Meetings
Specific Questions from the Community - SAGE shares answers
Q: Is the district reconsidering the GPA/ranking policy that was voted on at the August School Board meeting?
A: It seems that because there are discussions at the state level about standardizing GPA ranking, this topic will come back around at a later date. For more details on the recent policy change, you can check SAGE's other posts about the GPA policy here.
Q: Has the Education Master Planning Committee considered any of the scheduling challenges that Principals juggle to accommodate GT student needs?
A: While GT student counts and staffing have been part of the review process, according to the EMPC meeting agendas, it is not clear at this time if any specific discussions have covered how to maintain differentiation and accelerated curriculum for GT learners.
Q: How is the EMP Committee making the decision for which campuses to close?
Going through the Committee Meetings, the Committee is tasked with making data-driven decisions using Rubrics for Evaluation: And being asked to use specific criteria to evaluate ideas:
- How will it impact students?
- What is the disruption to the community?
- Can it generate revenue/reduce costs?
Q: If ASPIRE is moved to a stand-alone campus would the kids have the same extracurricular opportunities, ie band, choir, sports as their peers at other middle schools? Has the EMP Committee discussed any of this and how it would impact not just the academic side of our ASPIRE students but also the social/extracurricular side as well?
A: As of Sept 15, SAGE representatives have been told that any review of a stand-alone ASPIRE campus through the EMPC has not moved forward because it was not considered a viable solution.
UPDATE OCT 16: Despite prior communication with District Leadership communicating to SAGE that a stand-alone ASPIRE campus was not feasible, EMPC reviewed a scenario to create a stand-alone ASPIRE campus at Timberline. SAGE has reached out to District Leadership to get clarification on Scenario 7 which was presented to EMPC on October 8, 2025, and then discussed with School Board Trustees.
If families are wondering why this scenario continues to be in the Committee discussions, and/or have questions about how the revenue-generating information was presented, we encourage them to submit those to District leadership. An Update for Parents: Gifted & Talented (GT) Education in GCISD
Questions not yet answered:
Q: Will there be any relief this school year for our GT Specialists, who are stretched so thin with their new intervention responsibilities?
answer pending.
Q: If/when campuses close or combine, what is the consideration regarding staffing? Will teacher seniority be considered, and will there be positions in GCISD for anyone who is affected?
answer pending.
Q. How is the district specifically gathering input on the differences in GT-related programming across campuses?
answer pending.
