Lawsuit claims bias in gifted program

COLUMBIA, Mo. — An official with the Columbia school district’s gifted students program has filed a lawsuit claiming that the district discriminates against Black and Hispanic students when choosing who will be in the program.

Beth Winton, the teacher and program coordinator for the district’s Extended Educational Experience program, contends that the number of white and Asian students in the program resulted from manipulated data.

Winton oversees the gifted program for middle school and high school students, but most participants are chosen in elementary school.

In 2019-20, 77% of students in the gifted program were white, while white students were 59% of the student population. Nine percent of the program’s students are Asian, while Asians are only 5% of the student population, The Columbia Daily Tribune reported.

Conversely, less than 3% of students in the gifted program were Black, while they were 20% of the student population. Hispanic students were about 7% of the student population, but just over 3% of students in the gifted program were Hispanic.

Winton said she had been denied a promotion after she expressed her concerns to district officials and through the district’s grievance process, including making a presentation to the Columbia Board of Education.

A compliance officer and the School Board determined that district policy concerning the gifted program had not been violated.

The lawsuit alleges that the districts former elementary gifted program director placed students in the gifted program based on one test score and without supporting documentation. Most of those placed were white and many were children of district employees, or of Columbia doctors, professors and other prominent community members, according to the lawsuit.