Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program

OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIP TAX CREDIT PROGRAM

We would like to make you aware of the choices available to you based on the results of your child’s school on the 2024-2025 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) and/or Keystone Exams. The PSSA and Keystones are annual exams given to Pennsylvania students at various grade levels to measure their academic progress.

The Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program (OSTCP) was created pursuant to Act 85 of 2012 (72 P.S. § 1701-G.1, et seq) and later 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 another school district or nonpublic school.

A low achieving school is defined as a public elementary or secondary school ranking in the bottom 15 percent of their designation as elementary or secondary school based on the combined math and English language arts scores on the previous school year PSSA and/or Keystone exams.  It is important to note that this eligibility applies only to school districts, as charter schools, cyber charter schools, and area career and technical centers (CTCs) are not included under state law (24 P.S. § 20-2002-B). In addition, being included on this list does not reflect a federal accountability designation and does not indicate identification for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI), Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI), or Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI).

Valley Junior/Senior High School and Roy A. Hunt Elementary School are on the list of the bottom 15 percent for performance on the combined Math and English language arts tests on the 2024-2025 PSSA and/or Keystone exams.

Under the OSTCP program, New Kensington-Arnold School District must offer students the choice to transfer to another school district or nonpublic school. Please know that the staff at Valley Junior/Senior High School and Roy A. Hunt Elementary School have a relationship with your child and want to continue serving your child. However, if you feel your child will be better served in another school, you may request a transfer for your child to one of the schools participating in the OSTCP.

If you wish to take advantage of this opportunity for your child to attend another school, you must go to the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) website: Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) website.

You can review the list of scholarship organizations for the school districts and nonpublic schools that are participating in this program. DCED has information regarding the application process. Scholarships are contingent upon available funding.

Additional information is available on our school district website www.nkasd.com and the PA Department of Education website the PA Department of Education website