MADISON COUNTY – Dr. Ed Nichols, along with superintendents for Madison County and Huntsville, took the dais on Oct. 12 to launch the campaign for Impact Aid money.

Impact Aid is federal tax payments to school systems to offset funding losses from tax-exempt workplace locations, MCS Public Relations Manager John S. Peck said. Parents play a huge role in qualifying schools for extra federal funding by simply filling out a form about their job site.

Parents whose workplaces qualify must complete the Impact Aid form to qualify the school district for this extra money.

Since 2000, Madison City Schools has received $5.3 million in Impact Aid funds and approximately $13 million in related Department of Defense Education Activity or DoDEA education grants.

Along with Nichols, other officials at the launch were Col. Brian Cozine, Redstone Arsenal Garrison Commander; Madison County Schools Superintendent Ken Kubik; Huntsville City Schools Superintendent Clarence Sutton; and other support staff. Sparkman High School hosted the event.

Deadline to submit the form for Impact Aid is Oct. 26. For information about the form, visit madisoncity.k12.al.us, and click the “Parents and Students” dropdown menu. Then click “Military Families – Purple Star Program,” and click “Impact Aid Information.”

Parents can request printed (paper) copies of the Impact Aid forms at the student’s school.

Examples of employers that qualify for military connections are the U.S. Army, NASA, FBI, Federal Aviation Administration or FAA, federal courthouses, U.S. Postal Service, TVA and defense/aerospace operations on Redstone Arsenal. “Approximately one-fourth of the students in Madison City Schools are military connected,” Peck said.

The online forms are accessible through PowerSchool. “Impact Aid dollars are factored per child, so it is important to list every child in MCS schools,” Peck aid.

Federal employees determine appropriations to a school on the number of parents/guardians who work on federal property and/or families living on federal property, like base housing or public housing.

Approximately 26 percent of students in Madison City Schools have a parent employed on federal property, so Impact Aid can be very substantial, Peck said.