CAPE Outlook

Submitted by shannon_gottschalk on Mon, 11/05/2018 - 12:37

June 2021

On June 2, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that Vermont cannot refuse to allow religious schools to participate in a tuition program open to other private schools.

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School Health Updates

Submitted by shannon_gottschalk on Fri, 10/26/2018 - 15:18

In order to keep you informed of PA's Health changes, we have provided this resource.

1) The Department of Health’s website has changed:

The website may be reached at the following link https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/school/Pages/School%20Health.aspx

The Division of School Health no longer has the capability to make entries/changes to the website but may ask the person with that capability to make entries.

PA Regulations for Health Care regarding Gender Change procedures - ADF

Submitted by merle_skinner on Sun, 09/23/2018 - 00:45

On April 30, 2016, the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance (DOI) issued a “Notice Regarding Nondiscrimination” directed at health insurance companies doing business in the Commonwealth. The DOI Notice forbids health insurance companies from selling policies that “discriminate” on the basis of gender identity. Insurers may not sell policies that exclude “gender transition,” including the administration of hormones and “sex reassignment” surgery.

ACSI Reservation of Rights for Lunch Programming

Submitted by shannon_gottschalk on Tue, 06/12/2018 - 16:12

The Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) has sent a Reservation of Rights letter to the Pennsylvania Department of Education for the free and reduced lunch program to help support ACSI Christian Schools' rights for those participating in the Hot Lunch and food programs. The renewals for these programs should not be hindered by a nondiscrimination statement that is contrary to a schools beliefs or tenants of faith. ACSI recognizes the importance of observing the proper church-state boundaries between the Pennsylvania Department of Education and our member schools.

EITC / OSTC: Nondiscrimination Statement Removed

Submitted by shannon_gottschalk on Tue, 05/29/2018 - 08:44

The administration and DCED have removed the nondiscrimination statement that included gender, gender identity and sexual expression language from the EITC and OSTC guidelines and applications. This is a significant blessing from God. If you are a scholarship organization, the forms are updated on the website and we can participate once again in these incredibly important programs to our families in good faith.

Consider and pray about several things that the DCED very pointed example makes clear:

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529 Plan distributions for K-12

Submitted by shannon_gottschalk on Thu, 02/22/2018 - 08:36

You can use money contributed to a child's 529 Plan to pay for their K-12 education expenses. Pennsylvania will follow the Federal tax legislation signed into law on December 22, 2017, which includes several new provisions related specifically to 529 plan accounts, beginning with the 2018 tax year:
• Account owners can use assets to pay for qualified K-12 expenses up to $10,000 per year, per student.
• Account owners can treat K-12 withdrawals as qualified education expenses with respect to federal tax and PA PIT purposes.

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ESAs Supporting School Choice in Other States

Submitted by shannon_gottschalk on Thu, 02/08/2018 - 09:29

Educations savings accounts are the future of school choice, and new data out today show how families are using ESAs to customize educational options.

In 2014, Florida became the second state, after Arizona in 2011, to enact education savings accounts (ESAs), which enable families to utilize state funding to customize K-12 schooling options beyond just private school tuition. This year, more than 10,000 Florida students with special needs utilized the program, which is now called the Gardiner Scholarship.