Committee
In accordance with ESSB 6444, Section 501, State Superintendent Randy Dorn appointed individuals to a technical working group to establish standards, guidelines, and definitions for what constitutes a basic education program for highly capable students.
ESSB 6444 sets the requirement that, “The working group must consult with and seek input from nationally recognized experts; researchers and academics on the unique educational, emotional, and social needs of highly capable students and how to identify such students; representatives of national organizations and associations for educators of or advocates for highly capable students; school district representatives who are educators, counselors, and classified school employees involved with highly capable programs; parents of students who have been identified as highly capable; representatives from the federally recognized tribes; and representatives of cultural, linguistic, and racial minority groups and the community of persons with disabilities.”
| Organizations Represented |
Representative |
| Commission on African American Affairs |
Rosalund Jenkins (resigned) |
| Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs |
Mele Aho |
| Commission on Hispanic Affairs |
Uriel Iniguez (resigned)
Luis Ortega |
| District Representatives |
|
|
Nita Hill, Bethel School District |
|
Melinda McColley, Sumner School District |
|
David Ford, Tenino School District
Carla Lobos, Pasco School District
Karen Remy-Anderson, North Thurston School District |
|
Charlotte Akin, Evergreen (Clark) School District
Kari DeMarco, Wenatchee School District
Robert Vaughan, Seattle School District
Stephanie Wood-Garnett, Bellevue School District |
- Special Education Teacher
|
Terri Jackson, Oak Harbor School District |
|
Nora Phongsa, Pasco School District
Anita Urmann, Newport School District
Luanne Williams, Mead School District |
|
Kristina Johnstone, Centralia School District |
| Federally Recognized Tribe |
Wendy Peone (resigned) |
| Governor's Office of Indian Affairs |
SusanRae Banks-Joseph |
| Parent |
David Berg, Puyallup, Northwest Gifted Child Association
Richard Frailey, Spokane, Spokane Gifted Parent Organization
Margi Nowak, Tacoma, University
of Puget Sound
Lynne Tucker,
Seattle Special Education PTA,
NW Exceptional Children’s Association
Janis Traven, Seattle, Washington State PTA |
| State Leader/Expert in Gifted Education |
Mona Bailey
Jayasri Ghosh |
| Washington Association of Educators of the Talented and Gifted (WAETAG) |
Mary Freitas |
| Washington Coalition for Gifted Education |
Barbara Maurer |
| Washington Higher Education |
Margo Long, Whitworth University
Nancy Robinson, University of Washington |
|
|