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.
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By: Hunter McKee
OKLAHOMA CITY -
The Oklahoma City Fire Department is investigating a large grass fire which damaged some apartment buildings in northeast Oklahoma City.
Fire crews said the fire ignited in a field near Hefner and Northeast 122nd Street on Wednesday afternoon. The grass fire quickly spread to the Summit Ridge Apartments.
Resident Elisa McCurley said she and her family fled as quickly as possible.
“It was definitely scary for us,” McCurley said. “We were worried. We didn’t know if we’d have a house to live in afterwards.”
“It was heartbreaking because when I went inside and saw the flames getting really tall, I was like, ‘We got to get out of here,’” Mike McCurley said.