PRINTER'S NO. 2705
No. 2091 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY ALLEN, STAIRS, COLAFELLA, PHILLIPS, RAYMOND, TULLI, FAIRCHILD, ARGALL, BAKER, BATTISTO, BEBKO-JONES, BELARDI, BELFANTI, BROWNE, CAPPABIANCA, M. COHEN, CORRIGAN, DAILEY, DALLY, DEMPSEY, FORCIER, GEIST, GEORGE, GRUCELA, HERMAN, HERSHEY, HESS, HUTCHINSON, JOSEPHS, KENNEY, MAHER, R. MILLER, S. MILLER, MYERS, ORIE, PIPPY, READSHAW, ROSS, RUBLEY, SEYFERT, STABACK, STERN, STURLA, THOMAS, WILT, WOJNAROSKI, YOUNGBLOOD AND ZUG, NOVEMBER 17, 1999
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, NOVEMBER 17, 1999
AN ACT 1 Establishing the Keystone Scholars Award recognizing and 2 rewarding excellence in academic achievement and performance 3 among graduating seniors in this Commonwealth's public 4 secondary schools. 5 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 6 hereby enacts as follows: 7 Section 1. Short title. 8 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Keystone 9 Scholars Award Act. 10 Section 2. Purpose. 11 The Keystone Scholars Award is hereby established within the 12 Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency to recognize and 13 reward excellence in academic achievement and performance by 14 selected public secondary school seniors in this Commonwealth 15 and to encourage them to attend institutions of higher education 16 within this Commonwealth.
1 Section 3. Definitions. 2 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall 3 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the 4 context clearly indicates otherwise: 5 "Agency." The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance 6 Agency. 7 "Award." The Keystone Scholars Award established under this 8 act. 9 "Board." The board of school directors of a school district, 10 a joint board or an area vocational-technical school or the 11 board of trustees of a charter school. 12 "Eligible institution." A State-owned, State-related or 13 private institution of higher education or a community college 14 in this Commonwealth. 15 "School entity." A public school district, joint school, 16 charter school or area vocational-technical school. 17 Section 4. Selection process. 18 (a) Member of senior class.--Each school entity shall 19 annually select, for each of its secondary schools, a student 20 who is a member of the senior class and who exemplifies 21 qualities of high academic achievement and excellence in 22 performance as the recipient of the award. 23 (b) Criteria and procedures.--Each board shall adopt a 24 policy setting the criteria and procedures to be used in 25 selecting its award recipient which shall, at a minimum, comply 26 with the requirements of section 5. The award shall be made 27 without regard to the student's race, creed, color, sex, 28 national origin or ancestry. 29 (c) Presentation of award.--The award shall be presented to 30 the recipient at the school entity's annual commencement 19990H2091B2705 - 2 -
1 exercises. 2 Section 5. Minimum qualifications. 3 At a minimum, a candidate for the award shall: 4 (1) Be a current twelfth grade student enrolled at a 5 Commonwealth public secondary school, charter school or area 6 vocational-technical school. 7 (2) Be a legal resident of this Commonwealth. 8 (3) Hold a 3.5 grade point average, on a scale of 4.0, 9 by the end of the student's junior year. 10 (4) Attain a composite score of 1200 or higher on the 11 Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), or equivalent American 12 College Test (ACT) score, on any single test administration. 13 (5) Rank academically in the top 5% of the student's 14 graduating class. 15 (6) Have been accepted for admission in the fall term 16 immediately following secondary school graduation as a full- 17 time student in an eligible institution. 18 (7) Have a history of participation in extracurricular 19 activities, community service or work experience while 20 enrolled at the awarding high school. 21 Section 6. Award. 22 (a) Amount.--Each student selected by a school entity shall 23 be presented an initial award of $1,000, to a maximum of $4,000, 24 and shall be referred to as a Keystone Scholar. 25 (b) Use of award.--The award recipient shall be free to 26 attend any eligible institution of the recipient's choice and 27 shall apply the award toward the tuition, room, board, books and 28 fees of that institution. The eligible institution is not 29 required to accept the award recipient, but is free to exact 30 compliance with its own admission requirements, standards and 19990H2091B2705 - 3 -
1 policies. 2 Section 7. Renewal of award. 3 (a) Renewal period.--Each award is renewable annually for a 4 period not to exceed an additional three academic years beyond 5 the first year of the award. 6 (b) Qualifications for renewal.--Qualifications for annual 7 renewal of the award include the following: 8 (1) maintaining a minimum grade point average of 3.0 or 9 higher on a scale of 4.0, or its equivalent. 10 (2) Making normal progress toward completion of a course 11 of study. 12 (3) Continued eligibility as determined by the agency, 13 including continued legal residency and enrollment in an 14 institution of higher education located within this 15 Commonwealth. 16 Section 8. Powers and duties of agency. 17 (a) Public information.--The agency shall prepare and 18 supervise the issuance of public information concerning the 19 provisions of the award. 20 (b) Submission of information.--The agency shall prescribe 21 the form, set time lines and regulate the submission of 22 information from each school entity regarding the selection of 23 its recipient of the award. 24 (c) Initial award.--The agency shall establish procedures 25 for making the initial award to the recipients and for annual 26 renewal of the awards. 27 (d) Disbursement of funds.--The agency is authorized to 28 disburse awards from funds specifically appropriated for the 29 purposes of this act. 30 (e) Rules and regulations.--The agency shall have the power 19990H2091B2705 - 4 -
1 to adopt rules and regulations to implement, administer and 2 enforce this act. 3 Section 8. Miscellaneous provisions. 4 (a) Exclusion from taxable income.--Awards received by a 5 student under this act shall not be considered taxable income 6 for purposes of Article III of the act of March 4, 1971 (P.L.6, 7 No.2), known as the Tax Reform Code of 1971. 8 (b) Eligible institution unaffected.--Awards received by 9 students under this act shall not be considered financial 10 assistance or appropriations to the eligible institutions. 11 Section 9. Effective date. 12 This act shall take effect in 90 days. K15L24WMB/19990H2091B2705 - 5 -