North Lyon County USD 251 received $5,000 from the Learning Quest Choose My School Supply Drive campaign on Tuesday.
Kansas State Treasurer Lynn Rogers told The Gazette the district was one of 10 randomly selected from 2,300 school districts in the state. He said the money came from marketing funds for 529 education plans. According www.KansasCash.ks.gov, Learning Quest 529 Education Savings Accounts help Kansas families save for their children in tax-efficient 529 accounts. Learning Quest offers education savings accounts to help pay for education expenses for people you designate or for yourself.
Kansas taxpayers may take an annual deduction of up to $3,000 ($6,000 for married individuals, filing jointly) from Kansas adjusted gross income for contributions to each beneficiary’s account.
Kansas also offers the Learning Quest Advisor and the Schwab 529 plan, which are managed by American Century Investments and distributed by Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
“With the 529s, some of the marketing money can be used for grants,” he said.
The state offers $5,000 to 10 school districts, 10 school buildings receive $2,500 and 10 classrooms receive $1,000.
“[USD 251] is probably the smallest district that got it,” Rogers said. “We have been on the road to giving these funds to people.
Rogers said no taxpayer dollars were used in the promotion.
“One school uses their money for an agriculture program, another uses it for STEM, so there’s a pretty good variety,” Rogers said of how the grants are used.
529 Education plans were previously limited to post-secondary education costs, until the program was expanded to cover K-12 education in 2017. Apprenticeship programs were added in 2019.
The two main types of 529 plans are college savings plans and prepaid tuition plans.
More information about 529 Education Plans can be found online at https://kansascash.ks.gov/learn_quest.html.
