Submitted Photo The Bridge Educational Foundation through a corporate donor, Waste Management, has donated $7,500 in scholarship funding to St. Joseph Catholic School and the Warren County Christian School. Those included in a check presentation are, from left, Ed Yahner with Waste Management; State Representative Kathy Rapp; Sarah Heller, board member at WCCS; Carrie Pearson, principal at St. Joseph; State Senator Scott Hutchinson; Father Rick Tomasone and Erika Deyarmin with Waste Management. The students are John and Max Papalia.

Scholarships totaling $7,500 are now available to parents of students at St. Joseph Catholic School or the Warren County Career Center as a result of a state tax credit program.

The Bridge Educational Foundation announced the scholarship through a corporate donor, Waste Management. It’s part of the state Educational Improvement Tax Credit program

“EITC tuition scholarships can help to keep students in the schools that best fit their educational needs and allow new families the financial help to choose the best schools to fit their family’s changing needs.,” according to a statement from the Foundation.

“The EITC is providing families throughout the State with a choice by pairing the financial support of community-minded businesses with families since 2001,” Natalie Nutt, the Foundations’s executive director explained. “The COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting educational changes and closures, prompted many families consider their educational options.

EITC scholarships are an important financial tool for families seeking an alternative to their local public school.”

The foundation cites that it has provided scholarships to more than 32,000 students in 61 of the state’s 67 counties.

The tax credit programs provide companies with a 75 percent tax credit — 90 percent for a two-year commitment — for funds donated to approved, nonprofit scholarship or educational improvement organizations.

The foundation said that the state legislature kicked in an additional $40 million to the program in the 2021-22 state budget.