Deadline nears for Madison City Schools parents to submit Federal Impact Aid surveys
MADISON – Parents in Madison City Schools have a vitally important task: complete and return the Federal Impact Aid survey to participate in securing significant money for the district.
Parents should complete and submit the survey online by the Nov. 6 deadline.
Sparkman High School hosted the Impact Aid kickoff for all three school systems in Madison County on Oct. 22. Officials who participated in the kickoff were Eric Terrell, Superintendent, Madison City Schools; Col. Katherine J. Slingerland, Garrison Commander of Redstone Arsenal; Keith Trawick, Chief of Staff, Madison County Schools; and Dr. Clarence Sutton, Superintendent, Huntsville City Schools.
All MCS parents received Federal Impact Aid notification by email from Droplet to request assistance.
The survey allows the district to ascertain the number of students that are military-connected. This information helps the district’s staff to determine eligibility for other federal grants.
Submitting the form is critical from any parent in the military: an individual who simply works on federal property like Redstone Arsenal, a post office, NASA, U.S. Army, FBI, the federal courthouse, TVA, Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant and other federal operations.
More than 20 percent of MCS students were in this category in 2025. Since 1999, MCS has received approximately $6 million in direct Federal Impact Aid funding and an additional $17 million in related Department of War Education Activity grants. The allocations compensate for losses in education taxes from tax-exempt federal properties.
“It’s a big chunk of money,” Terrell said. “But it relies on parents filling out these Impact Aid forms, which are then verified through the program. Impact Aid is federal money reimbursed to school districts in communities with a large presence of federal jobs. The forms verify the workplace location, qualifying the district for monies lost from tax exempt properties of these installations.”
For families with more than one student, an email with a unique link will direct parents to a survey for each child.
A parent who can’t complete the survey online should request a paper copy for the student’s school.
The U.S. Department of Education requires Title 10 orders ONLY for FULLTIME Active Duty Reserves or for Active Duty National Guard. The parent should redact any personal, identifiable information before submitting the survey; the only information required on the orders is name, authority and effective date.
For more information, email impactaid@ madisoncity.k12.al.us.
