Section 12-1203-B - Program establishment and duties of agency.(a) Establishment.--The Educator Pipeline Support Grant Program is established within the agency.(b) Duties.-- The agency, in consultation with the department, shall administer the program and, in the agency's sole discretion, award a grant to an individual who submits a completed application and satisfies the eligibility requirements under section 1204-B.(c) Application.--No later than 120 days after the effective date of this subsection, the agency shall develop and make available an application form that an individual who is seeking placement as a student teacher may use to apply for a grant under the program.(d) Transfer of appropriation.--The appropriation in the amount of $10,000,000 to the department in section 215 of the act of August 3, 2023 (P.L. , No.1A), known as the General Appropriation Act of 2023, for the purpose of teacher stipend is transferred to the agency for the administration and implementation of the program.(e) Grant amount.-- (1) A student teacher shall receive a minimum grant of $10,000.(2) An eligible student teacher who completes required student teaching in a school entity in an area of this Commonwealth that attracts few student teachers or that has a high rate of open teaching positions shall, in addition to the amount awarded under paragraph (1), receive a minimum grant amount of $5,000. The agency, in consultation with the department, shall utilize data from the department to determine the areas identified in this paragraph.(3) For the purposes of computing the tax under Article III of the Tax Reform Code of 1971, the classes of income under section 303 of the Tax Reform Code of 1971 shall not include a payment received by an individual under this subsection.(4) An individual who receives a grant payment under this subsection shall not be considered a school employee for the purposes of 24 Pa.C.S. Pt. IV (relating to retirement for school employees) for the period during which the grant was awarded.(f) Funding.-- (1) The agency shall use money appropriated or available for the purpose of the program and may accept funding from public and private sources, including the Federal government, for the payment of grants under this section.(2) If the agency determines that the demand for the program exceeds the available resources, the agency may request additional funding as part of the agency's budget request for the next fiscal year in accordance with section 610 of the act of April 9, 1929 ( P.L. 177, No.175), known as the Administrative Code of 1929.(g) Additional duties.--When the agency awards a grant to a student teacher under this article, the agency shall also award a grant payment to the student teacher's cooperating teacher. The cooperating teacher shall receive a minimum grant of $2,500. The agency may reduce the grant award amount to a cooperating teacher if the cooperating teacher receives compensation from an institution of higher education for serving as a cooperating teacher. An institution of higher education may not charge a student teacher who receives a grant for the cost of paying a cooperating teacher.(h)Dissemination of information.--The agency shall annually provide information about the program on the department's publicly accessible Internet website and to all approved educator preparation programs and public and nonpublic secondary schools. An approved educator preparation program shall annually disseminate information about the program, including information identifying the school entities that qualify the student for an additional grant award amount under subsection (e).(i) Payment.--The agency shall establish a method for paying grant awards under the program to a school entity or nonpublic school. The school entity or nonpublic school shall use all of the money received under the program for payment to student teachers and cooperating teachers as required by this section and the agency.(j) Administrative fee.--The agency may take a reasonable administrative fee for direct costs associated with the implementation, administration and servicing of the program. The fee shall be taken from the funding received under subsection (f) and may not exceed 5%. Added by P.L. TBD 2023 No. 33,§ 9, eff. 12/13/2023.