Deadline near for tax-credit gifts to schools

Taxpayers have one more month to make tax-credit donations to the Deer Valley and Peoria Unified school districts for funding extracurricular activities.

Among the activities that benefit are such arts classes as marching band or drama, athletics, school clubs and gifted programs.

Taxpayers can donate and receive a tax credit for any amount up to $200, or a couple that files jointly can contribute up to $400. The donation can also specifically target a school or program.

George Hattendorf, the marching band director at Mountain Ridge High School, has used the tax-credit money to fund marching band trips and performances.

"We have used the money to fund students to go the Rose Bowl Parade," he said. "So they are tremendously important to us."

Hattendorf said the tax-credit program is a valuable resource for schools and would be vital for the Mountain Ridge band if they were invited to perform during President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration.

Zoe Seymour, an eighth-grade teacher at Alta Loma Elementary School, said tax-credit donations have been made specifically for the junior high drama program. That has allowed the school to bring in an artist-in-residence, Sara Yeager, to work with the students.

"The art form itself, along with Ms. Yeager's expertise, has been a marvelous learning opportunity for our seventh- and eighth-graders," Seymour said. "With drama, self-confidence and self-esteem go up, and we couldn't bring this to our students without the tax-credit monies."

The deadline for the tax-credit donations is Dec. 31.