Small, rural school divisions across Virginia continue to face declining student enrollments, difficulty competing for high-quality teachers, inadequate facility and capital projects funding and pressure from unfunded mandates at both state and federal levels, placing them at a significant financial disadvantage with larger and more affluent school divisions.

Areas of Focus

Coalition Flyer 

All In Tutoring Conference- Save the Date!


We are finalizing the details of our upcoming virtual summit to help us better prepare to implement High Intensity Tutoring in our small and rural schools. Be sure to "Save the Date" of October 10 from 8:30-3:00. Plan to pack a lunch or have something brought in for your entire team because this day will be jam packed with great sessions and opportunities to collaborate! The summit will be geared towards Superintendents, Central Office Instructional Leaders, and Building Leaders. We received confirmation today that you can use the Flexible Funding that was part of the newly approved State Budget to pay for registering for this conference! We hope to open registration on October 2. 


In addition to hearing from Dr. Coons we have confirmed that Zearn, as our Title Sponsor, will introduce themselves to us. Zearn was one of the companies awarded an RFP to serve divisions during this implementation period. We are also grateful to Stride K-12, Pearl, Kelly Educational Staffing, The Cook Center for Human Connection, Just Right Reading, Littera, the Center for Rural Education at Virginia Tech, Lexia Learning, Winsor Learning, Edmentum, and Renaissance Learning for partnering with us to make this Summit happen on such short notice. They will all bring excellent insights and opportunities for partnership to the table. 


We will have sessions that include sharing best practices from divisions who have already implemented High Intensity Tutoring in other states, keynotes from Zearn and the National Student Support Accelerator (Stanford University), and a panel of practitioners who will discuss our challenges and the successes of the Illinois Tutoring Initiative.


Additionally, we will end the day with several breakout sessions, from which your team can choose to attend, that address the needs you have in your division and schools. We will even have breakouts about the Virginia Literacy Act and Chronic Absenteeism, as they are also part of ALL In Virginia. Some of those breakouts will be Internal Staffing, External Staffing, Creative Scheduling, The Solution NOW for Virginia Schools and Students, Student Mental Wellness for Improved Student Attendance and Success, Foundational Literacy and Beyond, Best Practices for Scheduling High-Dosage Tutoring During the School Day and many more! Attendees will be able to collaborate with each other and a moderator during these productive sessions.

Coalition of Small and Rural Schools Legislative Priorities for 2023

Videos from Summit

School Construction and Modernization Legislative Panel - Senator McClellan, Senator Dunnavant, Delegate O'Quinn, and Delegate Hurst Moderated by Carol Cash



Impact of School Design on Student Learning - Pete Gretz and Stephan Halsey




Flexible Financing and Federal Funding - Chad Stewart and D.R. Dugan


Impact on New School Facility on Rural Communities Panel Discussion - Haydee Robinson, Dashan Turner, Paul Nichols, and Kevin Siers Moderated by Kristy Midgette 

Previous Advocacy

Virginia’s Moonshot Moment to Modernize Schools

Lawmakers have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to modernize our school infrastructure with one-time discretionary funding from the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund.  Read the fact sheet below to find out more.

School Infrastructure and Federal Funding Facts

Resolution to Support an Increase in State Funding for Small and Rural School Divisions

COSARS Legislative Priorities & Talking Points- 2020

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