Graduation
May 15, 2013
Partner with Us
What it Takes to Become a Partner School
If you would like to become a partner school with ACSTO, review this list to first see if your school is a good fit for the tax credit program, then second to see if ACSTO is a good fit for your school:
State Requirements
- You must be a qualified private school in the state of Arizona;
- You must charge tuition for all students (notwithstanding any other types of scholarships or discounts your school may offer);
- You must have regular classroom instruction that meets the state requirements for days per year;
- You cannot be a charter school or operated by a charter school;
- You must require all teaching staff/personnel that has unsupervised contact with students to be fingerprinted.
A 'Qualified School' means a nongovernmental primary or secondary school (private K-12) that does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, disability familial status or national origin (or a preschool that offers IEP services to students with disabilities).
You must charge tuition because scholarships awarded by any STO's per the tax credit law can only be used to pay for student tuition, nothing else.
The fingerprinting mandate is new and will now be a requirement for any school wishing to receive tax credit scholarships from any organization.
What does the Law Mean by Kindergarten?
We understand that to be eligible for a scholarship based on the Private School Tuition Tax Credit Law, the child must be attending the Kindergarten that is just before 1st grade. K-4 or Pre-Kindergarten does not qualify. There are exceptions for handicapped children spelled out in A.R.S. 43-1601.
ACSTO Requirements
There are over 50 STOs in the state of Arizona, and they all cater to different crowds and operate in slightly different ways. ACSTO has chosen to specifically help Christian private schools. Therefore, in order to be a partner with ACSTO your school must:
- Be an Evangelical Christian school.
- Agree with the ACSTO Statement of Faith.
Our Statement of Faith is based on Judeo-Christian doctrinal essentials from an Evangelical perspective. It is available in the School Packet we mail out to interested prospective schools.
