Bedford High School to conduct “First Count” Published Sept. 30, 2010 By Lisa Pizarro School Liaison Officer HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. -- Bedford High School will send home with students the 2010-2011 Federal Impact Aid survey on Oct. 1. Each year the Bedford School District is required under federal law to conduct a "First Count" by a specific date. The "First Count" is a form that parents or guardians are asked to complete for each child that is enrolled in the Bedford School District. These forms are then used to determine Bedford's eligibility and funding through the Impact Aid Program. Impact Aid is a federal program that provides funding to local school districts as a result of the presence of a federal installation. The Federal Impact Aid Program provides funding for schools in five categories: basic support payments, payments for property, disability payments, school construction payments and Department of Defense supplemental Impact Aid payments. Basic support payments are distributed based on the number of federally connected students enrolled in the school districts. Federally connected students include those who have a parent in the U.S. military, live on federal property or have a parent who works on federal property. To receive the basic support payments, the school district must have at least 400 of their students or three percent of their enrollment federally connected. To receive the supplemental funding from DoD, the district must have 20 percent of their student population federally connected. Students have until Oct. 22 to return the surveys to school, but are encouraged turn them in as soon as possible to meet all required deadlines. The information provided on the form is confidential and will be available only to the school and federal officials.