JEFFERSON CITY – Sen. Denny Hoskins again seeks to increase gifted education for Missouri schoolchildren with his Senate bill 151. Orrick, Hardin-Central and other small districts statewide could be affected by the proposal. The bill directs districts with fewer than 350 students to designate staff, even without gifted certification, to teach gifted children. Gifted certification requires teachers to take 24 additional college credit hours; and being in high demand, certified gifted teachers are hard for small districts to find and afford, Hoskins said. “It does come with a price tag,” Hoskins said, later adding, “I firmly believe you need to educate all ranges and spectrums of kids, whether that’s kids with special needs or kids that are gifted and everywhere in between.” Smaller school districts should meet extraordinary students’ needs, but doing so should not be onerous, he said. “This would allow them to have one of their current schoolteachers be the gifted teacher, just as…