Kindergarten Prep program students celebrating and honoring veterans on Veterans Day (photo by Superintendent Crystle Nehrmeyer)
Dale Farland
Oracle Schools Foundation, the fundraising organization providing free Kindergarten Prep (preschool) for three- and four-year-old children of the Oracle School District, has just been designated as an Arizona Qualifying Charitable Organization (AZQCO)! What a great way to kick off our 10-year anniversary of providing these programs and others to the students at Mountain Vista Elementary School in Oracle.
This is great news for your Arizona income taxes and for the students of Oracle! What does the AZQCO designation mean for you? It provides you with the opportunity to direct your tax money to this charity and receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit off your Arizona income taxes. You cannot claim more than you owe in Arizona State income taxes, so confirm with your tax advisor. For 2024 the maximum amount of the credit is $938 for married taxpayers and $470 for single individuals. For 2025 the amounts are $987 for married couples and $495 for single individuals.
Donations to the Oracle Schools Foundation as an AZQCO should not be confused with similar tax credit donations you can make to Oracle School District’s Mountain Vista Elementary School. You can claim a public school tax credit in addition to the AZQCO tax credit, and they both reduce your Arizona taxes dollar-for-dollar. For 2024 the maximum amount of the public school tax credit is $400 for married taxpayers and $200 for individuals. Public schools are allowed to use these donations for extracurricular activities or character education programs, such as field trips, athletics, after-school tutoring, and fine arts. This tax credit form is on the district’s website at OSD2.org under “Quicklinks.”
What do your AZQCO donations to the Oracle Schools Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, support? Most of your donations provide the free Kindergarten Prep program for three- and four-year-old students of Oracle School District. (This year we have 59 students, and it costs $99,000.) We fund other programs, such as Accelerated Reading and Math Assistance programs. We also sponsor educational trips and leadership opportunities for students in Oracle.
To securely donate on our website, please go to Oracleschoolsfoundation.com. If you would rather, you can send a check to Oracle Schools Foundation and mail it to P.O. Box 8863, Catalina, AZ 85738. You can make donations in 2024 up until April 15, 2025, for your 2024 Arizona income taxes, provided you do not exceed the limitations. You can make donations in 2025 for your 2025 Arizona income taxes.
The AZQCO code for Oracle Schools Foundation when you prepare your Arizona income taxes is 22773.