Pre-Kindergarten Tax Credit Program
An Innovative Education Program of the
Lancaster Country Career & Technology Foundation

Background: The Lancaster County Career & Technology Foundation (LCCT Foundation) is a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) entity established in March of 2003. The organization supports the programs and students of the Lancaster County Career & Technology Center (LCCTC). A key interest of the LCCT Foundation and the LCCTC is Early Childhood Education.

For the past three years, the LCCT Foundation has worked with the United Way of Lancaster County’s Success By 6 program to address unmet needs as they relate to the availability of quality child-care programs. It was determined that the Northwest portion of Lancaster County, in particular Mount Joy Borough and Mount Joy Township, is in need of quality child-care and preschool programs.

This application provides information about the LCCT Foundation and addresses the requirements to be a qualified Pre-Kindergarten Scholarship Organization. Over all it is our objective to increase the access, availability and quality of child-care in Lancaster County.

Our Mission: “Through a collaboration of industry and educators we provide funds and resources to train world-class technicians and crafts people to meet the needs of a rapidly changing society.”

Our Goals: The goals of the LCCT Foundation are to:
  • Create a sustainable partnership between The Lancaster County Career & Technology Center (LCCTC) and the community, which provides vocational-technical training that enables students to become occupationally proficient.
  • Support imaginative and creative instructors and other educational personnel.
  • Finance programs that fill gaps not funded by traditional sources of revenue.
  • Enhance educational opportunities and experiences of students of all ages.
  • Enrich the educational values and cultural experiences of students by extending their opportunities with creative and innovative programs.
Our Programs: The LCCT Foundation is a state approved Educational Improvement Organization. This status allows contributors to the LCCT Foundation to receive tax credits for their donations. The LCCT Foundation has three approved tax credit programs that are available for donations. The programs are:
  • Advanced Placement Internship Program (API): The API Program supports the placement of top performing students into paid internships designed to accelerate the students’ transition in their first career position. Funds are used to cover the cost of student screening and placement services, training program development and work site coordination services, along with the training of work place mentors.
  • Advanced Construction Technology Program (ACT): The ACT funds help to purchase tools, equipment and construction materials that allow the students to build larger commercial grade buildings. This program provides students in construction technology programs with the opportunity to design and build state of the art commercial buildings at Lancaster County Career & Technology Center
  • Innovations in Technology Applications Program (I –TAP): The I-TAP funds help to purchase leading edge technology and equipment to assist students learn to use advanced forms of technology and equipment used in business and industry. The type of technology and equipment that requires higher-level academic and technical knowledge based skills to use properly.
Key Initiative: The LCCT Foundation, in collaboration with the LCCTC is in the process of building and operating an Early Childhood Education Institute (ECEI). The ECEI is being constructed on the Mount Joy Campus of the LCCTC, located at 432 Old Market Street, Mount Joy PA. When completed, the facility will accommodate two preschool programs; one for up to 120 children will be operated by Hildebrandt Learning Centers, LLC and will be a licensed child-care center. The other program will be operated by Community Action Program of Lancaster County and will be a 40 student Head Start Program. These two programs will be open for enrollment beginning in September 2006. Tax credit contributions to our scholarship program will go to support students in these two programs. In addition, scholarships may be awarded to students attending any of the following Hildebrandt Learning Centers:
  • Masonic Homes – Elizabethtown, PA
  • Park City Center – Lancaster, PA
  • Landis Homes Center - Lititz, PA
The envisioned center is to provide children with a quality pre school education program operated to meet the highest standards of the industry. Students served by these programs and who will benefit from the program curriculum will range in age from 6 months to 5 years. The curriculum and the daily schedule of the program will address:
  • Emergent literacy and Language Development
  • Development of Fine Motor Skills
  • Exposure to science, history and creative arts
  • Development of social skills
  • Development of numeracy skills
  • Development of gross motor skills
Additionally, when the facility opens, both NAEYC and Keystone STARS accreditation will be sought for the programs. The instructional programs will be offered 12 hours a day five days a week, 52 week a year. The curriculum content and methods of instruction of these two programs are consistent with the following elementary schools:
  • Farmdale Elementary – Hempfield School District
  • Landisville Primary Center – Hempfield School District
Purpose: It is the intention of the LCCT Foundation to provide scholarship support to children who are members of households that meets the eligibility requirements established in the guidelines and who are at least three years of age and enrolled in a pre-kindergarten program as outlined below:
  1. Eligibility: The LCCT Foundation will insure eligibility of scholarship recipients through its Application for Assistance process. This process will obtain documentation and information on the size of the household, household income, residency, and age of the children. The Application for Assistance is intended to determine eligibility and to select students to receive the Pre-Kindergarten Scholarships. LCCT Foundation’s Early Childhood Program manager and financial manager will review all Applications for Assistance. It is their responsibility to verify both income and program eligibility requirements. All applications and eligibility verification documentation will be maintained by the by the Early Childhood Program. The methodology for calculating household income for determining student eligibility includes collecting documentation on all income and property received, of whatever nature from whatever source for the last year. Documentation needed to determine eligibility might include tax returns, payroll information, and other forms of source documentation that verify household income or household property. The documentation will verify the applicant is a member of a household with an annual income of not more than $50,000. Except that an additional income allowance of $10,000 is permitted for the student and for each other dependent as defined by the IRS as living within the same household.
  2. Pre-Kindergarten Scholarships: Scholarships awarded thought this program are intended for students of the Early Childhood Education Institute and the Head Start Program first. Upon availability of fund scholarships could be awarded to any of the three Hildebrandt Learning Center listed in this application. All programs receiving scholarships through the LCCT Foundation will be operated by a school or in conjunction with a school, which provides a minimum of two hours of instructional and developmental activities per day for at least 60 days per school year.

    The pre-kindergarten scholarship program of the LCCT Foundation will pay all tuition and fees charged by the program. All scholarship awarded will not exceed the standard tuition charged to non-scholarship students.
  3. Pre-Kindergarten Scholarship Program Polices:
    1. Rebate or Refunds: It shall be the police of the LCCT Foundation to require the participating provider to make refunds to the LCCT Foundation for all unused portions of the scholarship. The unused portion will be calculated on a weekly basis.
    2. Confidentiality of Information: It shall be the policy of the LCCT Foundation to maintain confidentiality of all information pertaining to student and the student’s eligibility.
  4. Receipts for Contributions: The LCCT Foundation acknowledges all contributions to its PKTC Program with a written receipt. This receipt includes the following: the type of organization receiving the contribution, company name, amount of contribution, and if applicable, dates of check and the date the contribution was received. Since the LCCT Foundation operates three EITC Programs, the receipts will reflect the pre-kindergarten scholarship program.
  5. Annual Receipts: The LCCT Foundation will contribute at least 80% of the contributions received under the Pre-Kindergarten Scholarship Tax Credit Program to support students enrolled in the pre-kindergarten programs.
  6. Maintenance of Records: the LCCT Foundation will maintain separate records that will segregate funds received for the Pre-Kindergarten Scholarship and the Educational Improvement Tax Credit Programs.
  7. The LCCT Foundation will retain all receipts and expenditure records for a period of no less than 3 years.