A Columbia Public Schools insider is alleging in a lawsuit against the district that the disproportionate number of white and Asian students in its gifted program resulted from manipulated information.
The whistleblower lawsuit was filed by Beth Winton, the district's Extended Educational Experience teacher and program coordinator. Extended Educational Experience is the district's program for gifted students. She oversees the program for middle school and high school students, but most students are identified in elementary school.
In 2019-20, 77% of students in the gifted program were white, while white students were 59% of the student population. Asian students also were over-represented in the gifted program at 9%, whereas Asian students were 5% of the student population.