The ScholarShare Scholar Dollars program has awarded a $25,000 grant to Carson's Stephen M. White Middle School.
The grant will be used to find extracurricular and after-school programs. White Middle School is one of 20 schools in California that received money from the program. There was a total of $300,000 available, administered by the California State Treasurer.
ScholarShare is under the purview of the ScholarShare Investment Board, which has the Treasurer of California as its chair. It is the state's official 529 plan to help people save for their children's education.
The program takes its name from Section 529 of the IRS Revenue Code, and it works by providing families with tax-deferred growth, various investments, and withdrawals for which there is no tax penalty if they use the money to pay for expenses at eligible schools. The money is invested and managed by TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing, Inc., and the program currently has more than $7bn in 280,000 individual accounts.
White Middle School was the only school in the South Bay area to win a part of the grant, though other nearby winners include the Multnomah Street Elementary School and the Judith F. Baca Arts Academy, (both in Los Angeles) and the South Gate Middle School in South Gate, about eight miles from the Los Angeles downtown.
Schools often benefit by working with a marketing services company to ensure parents in their district know about their programs.
