Hello everyone!  

Welcome to the fourth issue of the Impact Aid Director’s Quarterly Update.  

As of today, the team has completed 97% of initial monitoring reviews for fiscal year (FY) 2025 and 68% of our final reviews. We are on track to make initial payments for FY 2025, contingent a full appropriation on October 1, 2024, and final payments by Spring 2025. All remaining FY 2024 blocked payments are scheduled for release after October 1, 2024. 

Start early! Now is a good time to start thinking about preparing for your FY 2026 Impact Aid application. We encourage you to read through our best practice tips and consider participating in one of our upcoming technical assistance opportunities listed below. The upcoming training session can be found on our portal under here. 

Our brand-new Impact Aid Handbook is also an excellent resource. The handbook gives a broad overview of Impact Aid basics and answers frequently asked questions, with citations to the program statute and regulations. In our annual Grantee Satisfaction Survey, we’ve received comments over the years to revive the handbook (the old “yellow book”), and this year we were able to fulfill that request. We hope you find it useful. 

We wish you a wonderful start to the new school year! 

Early Payment Requests 

If your local educational agency (LEA) must receive your first FY 2025 Impact Aid payment before the end of December 2024 to meet its expenses, please let us know by requesting an early payment in the Impact Aid Grant System (IAGS). If we are operating under a Continuing Resolution for the start of FY 2025, meaning that we receive a small percentage of our 2024 appropriated funds rather than the full appropriation for the year, we will prioritize initial payments for LEAs that need them the most. Please note that the button to request an early payment has moved from the IAGS payment history page to the application page. See the new user guide for instructions with screenshots. 

Special Team Spotlight – Electronic Data Collection (EDC) Team 

This quarter we recognize our EDC team who provides technical assistance to LEAs in their first year (called the pilot year) and beyond. The team consists of team lead Shaunton Alston, Kisha Spruill, and Robin Gregory. EDC allows LEAs to use their student information system to collect survey data for their Impact Aid application. The primary purpose is to enhance efficiency and assist in producing accurate, complete, and validated data for the LEA’s application. Currently, 58 LEAs are participating in EDC. Kudos to the team for their work in this process. If you wish to explore this option for your LEA, please contact our EDC team at edcpilot@ed.gov.  

Impact Aid Best Practices:  Survey Method  

Have you reviewed your survey method recently?  If it has been a while, now is a great time to review your methods. For best results, we suggest you:  

• View our on demand video here on how to conduct a survey.  

• Participate in a virtual training. The schedule is listed below and always available on our website.  

• Reach out to your LEA’s state analyst, who can recommend the best survey method based on the federally connected categories you claim.  

Upcoming Webinars  

Join the Impact Aid staff in an upcoming webinar. Please see below. Our webinars are FREE and open to all.  

As always, reach out to us anytime for assistance, and feel free to contact your program analyst directly.

Faatimah Muhammad  

Director, Impact Aid   

Hello everyone!

Welcome to the third issue of the Impact Aid Director’s Quarterly Update.  The Impact Aid program team is thrilled to announce that we will be closing out the fiscal year (FY) 2024 in the coming weeks.  This marks the first time in the program’s history that final payments will be processed within the same fiscal year, a milestone made possible in part by the diligent work of our payment team, who are featured below.

As of today, the team has completed 76% of initial monitoring reviews for FY 2025.  We are on track to be ready to make initial payments for FY 2025, pending a full appropriation on October 1, 2024, and final payments by Spring 2025.

As you wrap up the school year, we encourage you to read through the best practice tips and upcoming technical assistance opportunities listed below.  Our goal is to ensure a successful application season for FY 2026!

Funding Updates

We have released all section 7003(b) Basic Support payments at 100% of Prorated LOT; and section 7003 (d) Payments for Children with Disabilities at a rate of $1,200 per Weighted Student Unit.  Section 7002 local educational agencies (LEAs) have received their foundation .  We also made the final section 7007 formula construction payments for FY 2024 in May.

We plan on releasing final FY 2024 payments for both 7002 and 7003 later in June.  If you are concerned about receiving unplanned funds late in your fiscal year, you can request a payment block in the Impact Aid Grant System (IAGS).  Once you’ve signed in, scroll to the bottom of your Home page to find the new Batched Payments section.  Click the $ button on the top right of the box to go to your LEA’s full Payment History page.  Then, click the Request Payment Block button on the top right of the Payment History page to start the payment block process.

FY 2025 Application Update

If you need to amend your FY 2025 application, you may do so until July 1, 2024.  The IAGS Navigation webinar on June 5 at 3 p.m. Eastern Time will show you how (registration information is below).

Special Team Spotlight – Payments

This quarter we recognize our payments team.  This team consists of the Team Lead Kisha Spruill, and team members Shaunton Alston, Ulyssa Rempson, and Melissa Torchon-Duke.  This is the behind-the-scenes team that ensures any errors with your payments are quickly and accurately corrected to ensure your payments reach you in a timely manner.  This team also assists LEAs with updating their bank data in coordination with the G6 (formerly G5) payment system and performs a reconciliation of payments to ensure the IAGS and G6 transactions match.  This team uses their extensive knowledge of the payment system to support the program with efficiency and professionalism.  Have a question about payments?  Send an email to Impact.Aid@ed.gov.

Impact Aid Best Practices: Staff Transitions

For many districts, the end of the school year and the beginning of another year signals changes with staff. Here is what we suggest to ensure a successful start to your new Impact Aid Year:

• Update your LEA’s contact person in IAGS. After signing in to IAGS, click on LEAs on the top blue menu, then the name of your school district.  Click the Update LEA Details button at the top right to change the contact information.
• Make sure the next person has access to your LEA’s past Impact Aid survey records. You must keep your backup documentation until three years after the final payment for that year was made.  Currently, your LEA should have the records from your FY 2021 application (school year 2019-2020 survey data), and forward.
• Visit our New to Impact Aid page for a basic overview of our Section 7002 and 7003 prog There you’ll find links to training videos and the basic information you need to get started.

For even more help, feel free to contact your LEA’s state assigned program analyst directly here: https://impactaid.ed.gov/iap_staff/.  They can also assist you with setting up new accounts in IAGS, if necessary.

Upcoming Webinars

Join the Impact Aid staff in an upcoming webinar.  Our webinars are FREE and open to all. Click this link for a complete schedule through September 2024.

As always, reach out to us anytime for assistance, and feel free to contact your program analyst directly here: https://impactaid.ed.gov/iap_staff/.

Faatimah Muhammad

Director, Impact Aid

IAP Director’s Quarterly Newsletter Q2 FY24 (PDF file)

Hello everyone!

Welcome to our second issue of the Impact Aid Director’s Quarterly Update.  We are excited to feature one of our special teams in this edition. Their work plays a critical role in the distribution of Impact Aid grant funds. In the next quarterly newsletter, we look forward to featuring best practices from one of our stellar federally impacted districts.

Funding Updates

As of today, the Department of Education is funded through March 22, 2024.  For fiscal year (FY) 2024, we are currently paying Section 7003 local educational agencies (LEAs) at a proration of 50%, including payment adjustments due to Generally Comparable District Local Contribution Rates and Heavily Impacted payments under Section 7003(b)(2).  All eligible grantees received an initial payment for Children with Disabilities at $500 per Weighted Student Unit.  Section 7002 LEAs have received their foundation payments.

Special Team Spotlight

The Generally Comparable District (GCD) team has showcased their skills by initiating the GCD process earlier this year, leading to an earlier disbursement of Impact Aid payments. This strategic move not only underscores the team’s dedication but also exemplifies their commitment to ensuring LEAs receive their maximum payment under this provision.

The FY 24 GCD team consists of the following analysts: Chad Eggleston (lead), Michael Thomas, Alejandra Villalobos, and Lloyd Matthews. Kudos to the team for their hard work in this process of grantmaking.

FY 2025 Application Season Update

We received 1,004 Section 7003 applications and 206 Section 7002 applications in January, with 56% percent submitted in the final week before the deadline.

Facilities Maintenance – Section 7008

On Tuesday, December 19, 2023, the Impact Aid Director signed the Transfer of Ownership package for the new Randolph Field Elementary School located on Joint Base San Antonio, Texas.  Congratulations to the Randolph Field School District!  There are now only four Department of Education-owned school buildings on military installations, and we expect two of the remaining facilities to transfer to LEAs in FY 2024.

Grantee Satisfaction Survey

The Department of Education is ramping up its FY 2024 Grantee Satisfaction Survey.  All 7002 applicants will be surveyed and 20% of section 7003 applicants will be randomly selected for the survey. The launch date is slated for April 1, 2024.

As always, reach out to us anytime for assistance, and feel free to contact your program analyst directly here: https://impactaid.ed.gov/iap_staff/.

Faatimah Muhammad

Director, Impact Aid

Happy Holidays from Impact Aid Director Faatimah Muhammad!  Here is the first issue of the Director’s Quarterly Update (PDF file), a newsletter designed to keep you up-to-date on topics such as appropriations, payments, staffing, application review progress, and data trends.