STAY takes in more than $1.8 million in current FY for tuition scholarships

The School Tuition Association of Yuma reports taking in more than $1.8 million in contributions so far in the current fiscal year to provide children and youths from low-income families in the Yuma area with tuition scholarships to attend private school locally.

The scholarships are given to children and teens in kindergarten through the 12th grade. To be eligible for the tuition assistance, they must come from low-income families as defined by Arizona’s metrics – those at about 300% of the federal poverty level.

The contributions, sometimes reaching into six-figure amounts, are received annually and are mostly all distributed to qualifying students in the same year they are received. STAY is required to distribute 90% of the funds within three years of the fiscal year in which they are received.

The donors, who are both individuals and corporations, receive tax credits for the school choice contributions.

Among the largest contributors are Aiello Eye Center, APS, Charter Communications (Spectrum), Foothills Animal Hospital, KDC of Yuma, RL Jones Customhouse Brokers, ROC Imaging, SKE Construction, Sonora Nissan, Tomcat Engineering Unlimited, Yuma Endoscopy Center, Yuma Gastro and Yuma Investment Group.

STAY’s priority is to provide the scholarships for use at private schools in the Yuma area.

Two certified public accounting firms in Yuma – Misenhimer, Aivazian, & Tennant and Shippen, Pope & Associates – manage the tuition scholarship program.

LOANED PHOTO YUMA MAYOR DOUGLAS NICHOLLS (LEFT); Rex Pope third from left), executive director of STAY, and Caitlyn Pope, STAY administrator, receive a contribution from Felipe Monroig (second from left), western region senior director of government affairs for Charter Communications, for tuition scholarships for qualifying low-income students who want to attend private school in the Yuma area.