School parents urged to complete Impact Aid form

MADISON – Parents and guardians can help Madison City Schools collect federal funds by filling out and submitting Impact Aid forms.

The forms are very important pieces of paper that teachers sent home with students on Sept. 20. The forms can help the Madison district qualify for extra federal funding.

Impact Aid is federal funding paid in lieu of taxes to schools that educate the children of people who work on federal property. “Impact Aid helps replace what would be received had those jobs been housed on non-government properties,” MCS Public Relations Manager John S. Peck said.

The Impact Aid form is available at this website:

http://data.madisoncity.k12.al.us/documents/impact%20aid/Impact%20Aid%20form%202017-18.pdf

Parents/guardians must complete one form for each student. MCS Superintendent Robby Parker and Lt. Col Daniel Gray, a Madison City Schools parent, explain the program in a brief video, https://youtu.be/y5YqXn4ejvM.

“Simply working on federal property — NASA, Army, FBI, federal courthouse, TVA, federal housing authority — qualify our school district for this money,” Peck said. “The parent’s job can be in the military, civil service or private contractor.”

The form asks for the employer name and workplace address if a parent works on federal property. “Fill it out, regardless even if you do not fall under the civilian, uniformed service or foreign military categories,” he said.

On Sept. 20, the Garrison Commander and other leaders from Redstone Arsenal and all three local school districts launched the Impact Aid campaign during a press conference at Sparkman High School. MCS Assistant Superintendent – Operations Eric Terrell led the kickoff for Madison City Schools (vimeo.com/234259712/473e05cdd9).

Since establishing a separate school district, Madison City Schools has received more than $3 million from Federal Impact Aid. In addition, qualifying also has brought in $8 million in federal grants for MCS since 2010 alone, Peck said. “We’re striving for a 100-percent return rate from all 10,700 of our students.”