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To accomplish our mission of ensuring a quality education for all of Pennsylvania’s children, we must unite in purpose. As a collective of rural, small, and severely underfunded schools, we have power when we speak with one loud voice. Stay informed about the issues you need to know about when you connect here with us.
Why should your school district join PARSS? We have the answers!
The Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools (PARSS) is the only education association in the state that participated in the landmark school funding lawsuit—successfully advocating for fairer funding for small and rural districts. As a result, our members are already seeing positive outcomes.
When your district joins PARSS, you gain access to timely legislative updates, connections with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, and free professional development opportunities for school board members and educators. We also offer webinars on current educational issues, collect and share valuable survey data, and provide free job postings through our website and social media.
PARSS actively promotes the voice of our members through media representation and has awarded more than $180,000 in scholarships over the past six years.
Join us and be part of a powerful network working for equitable education across Pennsylvania. See our informational flyer for more reasons!
The PARSS Golf Tournament will take place on April 30, 2025, at Mountain View Country Club. We will collect registration donations of $40 at check-in. All funds from donations are awarded in the form of scholarships to students in PARSS member school districts.
The day is scheduled as follows:
- 11:00 a.m. - Check-In
- 11:30 a.m. - Lunch
- Noon - Shotgun Start
- TBD - Awards Ceremony
‘Tis the season for grant applications! The big news here is that our grant budget has doubled, and we now have $50,000 available for PARSS member school districts that want to update equipment, heighten learning experiences with new and improved technology, and expand or introduce in-demand career skills for students. Don’t forget, we also have grant monies available for afterschool clubs and competitions.
Last year PARSS received more than eighty applications for funds, and with a heftier budget in place for 2024, we expect applications to increase. If you have a dream for your students, for classrooms, or for the members of an afterschool group, please apply.
Here are some tips for your application:
- Follow the directions and complete each question. We must know how much you are requesting and how many students will benefit.
- Attach the grant form to an application essay of about 500 words that fully explains your needs. Tell us your story. Offer up details about your situation now and how a grant would change the learning potential for your students. Remember, we no longer request a budgetary breakdown of monies awarded. Instead, we’re asking for details. For example, how might a high-tech skill acquired in a science lab lead to a job or more study at the college or university level? Tell us why a robotics competition for elementary school inventors will be a game-changing event you don’t want to miss. Why will a new 3-D printer change everything for your classroom? Have a unique opportunity for an artist in residence? We’d like to know more about who it is and why it’s essential for school.
- Write clearly. All application forms completed by hand must be legible. Be sure we can clearly identify names, emails, and numbers.
- Request realistically. PARSS grants are typically a mix of small ($0-$1,999), moderate ($2,000-$4,999), and larger ($5,000-$9,999) amounts. Although we’ve got more to spend this year, we’d like more districts to share in the benefit. As worthy as they may be, requests totaling $10,000 or more are difficult to approve when so many districts are requesting assistance.
It is our custom to announce grant recipients by the start of Thanksgiving vacation. To meet that deadline, we must receive applications at PARSS by November 1. We recommend sharing this information with faculty and staff members completing the grant form so they can read and apply our tips and suggestions to their application.
We specialize in small. We also specialize in rural.
Here are just a few examples of how we support our member districts:
- Feel like you’re too far away for anyone in Harrisburg to hear your voice or understand your needs? Our small/rural schools megaphone allows us to make your case loud and clear.
- Be among the nearly 300 members of PARSS to receive up-to-the-minute legislative updates. We also gather and share fast facts and survey data on current “hot topics” (such as student health concerns, transportation, food service, etc.) and create free webinars on current educational topics.
- Need help fast? We’ll be your first responders when the unexpected occurs. Call us ‘round the clock, seven days a week, when questions arise.
- You’ll like the perks. We’ll help you hire your next superintendent or other central-office administrator with customized job searches.
- We’re dedicated. In fact, we were the only Pennsylvania education association involved with the fair funding lawsuit that challenged inadequate and unfair funding for small and/or rural school districts, and the Court ruled in our favor. Recent historic increases in funding have begun and we expect much more additional funding in future budget cycles.
- We produce and plan an annual conference, one of the most relevant, rewarding gatherings for school leaders in the Commonwealth. Plan to attend and earn Act 45 Hours!
- We supply professional development programs and retreats for school board members and educators and facilitate discussion and focus groups.
- Even your students benefit. We provide annual scholarships to member school districts and have awarded more than $150,000 during the past several years.