2/06/2019
Panther Valley Junior Senior High School is required to notify parents about the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program that is available to parents of all Panther Valley Junior Senior High School students. Please read the following letter from the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 333 MARKET STREET HARRISBURG, PA 17126-0333
DEPUTY SECRETARY FOR ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
717-787-2127 FAX: 717-214-2786
January 30, 2019
Mr. Dennis R Kergick Superintendent
Panther Valley School District
1 Panther Way Lansford, PA 18232
Dear Superintendent Kergick,
The Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program was created pursuant to Act 85 of 2012 (72 P.S. § 1701-G.1, et seq) and amended by Act 86 of 2016 (24 P.S. § 2001-B, et seq). This program enables eligible students, residing within the boundaries of low-achieving schools, to apply for a scholarship to attend a participating public or nonpublic school.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) hereby officially notifies you that the Panther Valley School District has been identified as having at least one school designated as a low achieving school. The following are the schools within the district designated as low achieving:
• Panther Valley Junior Senior High School
Pursuant to Act 86 of 2016, the Department of Education produced a list of public elementary and secondary schools within the Commonwealth that are in the lowest 15 percent of their designation for the previous full academic year.
Public elementary and secondary schools (excluding brick-and-mortar and cyber charter schools, and area vocational-technical schools) within the commonwealth that ranked in the lowest 15 percent of its designation for the 2017-18 school year is based on the combined Mathematics/Algebra I and Reading/Literature scores from the annual assessments (PASA, PSSA, and/or Keystone) administered in 2018.
Students who reside in an attendance zone of a school that was on a previous list of low performing schools but is not on the 2019-20 list may apply to a Scholarship Organization to continue receiving a scholarship.
Pursuant to 24 P.S. § 2010-B(C), the district must post on its publicly accessible internet website information about this program within 15 days of receipt of this letter. PDE has compiled and attached the following required pieces of information for the district to place on its website:
11, 2006 Page 2
1. An overview of the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program which includes:
a. A description of the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program b. Instructions to apply for an Opportunity Scholarship c. Parental responsibilities regarding enrolling their child in a participating public or nonpublic school 2. A list of schools in the district that have been designated as low-achieving schools.
Additionally, within 15 days of receipt of this letter, the district must also notify the parents of each student who is currently attending or residing within the attendance boundary of a lowachieving school, of that school’s designation. The district must also notify parents of kindergarten students registered or registering in a low-achieving school of the school’s designation. This notice shall be given by sending the form PDE has created, which is also provided as an attachment.
Sincerely,
Matthew S. Stem Deputy Secretary
A letter about the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program will be sent home with each student in the Panther Valley Junior Senior High School by Friday February 15, 2019.
Thank You,
Mr. Joseph A. Gunnels
Building Principal