SchoolsRule Marin

Since the summer of 2013, SchoolsRule-Marin has been celebrating our community’s dedication to public schools with an annual fundraising event held under the big top of the Marin County Fair. As the event has grown, so has SchoolsRule’s scope and fundraising capacity.  Last year, SchoolsRule was able to distribute $1M to Marin’s public school districts.

SchoolsRule is a unique collaboration of all Marin’s public school foundations, working together as one to raise funds on behalf of all students countywide. The funds collected are distributed on a per-student basis to provide direct support for literacy, the arts, technology and health programs, helping to ensure that excellent educational opportunities are available to EVERY student in EVERY public school in Marin, regardless of zip code.  Since its inception in 2011, SchoolsRule has distributed more than $4.8M making a tremendous impact on those students and districts most in need, most notably in San Rafael and Novato, Marin’s largest districts.  

June 29th would have marked SchoolsRule’s 8th annual event but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 situation. “Not only will we miss gathering for our annual celebration,” said Trisha Garlock, President of SchoolsRule, “but cancelling our primary fundraiser has profound financial implications for SchoolsRule but more importantly, for our students.”

Eight years ago, SchoolsRule was launched with the backdrop of a recession and reduced public school funding.  Now, we again find ourselves in a similar situation. “The needs of our schools have only increased in this crisis as they face severe budget cuts from the state while simultaneously working to meet the challenges in delivering high-quality education to students in the age of COVID-19” said Mary Jane Burke, Marin County Superintendent of Schools.

We don’t yet know what school will look like in the fall, but regardless of the situation, learning will continue.  Our educators will continue to work passionately and tirelessly to support student learning and wellness. But their passion and tenacity isn’t enough.  SchoolsRule’s mission is more critical than ever during these unprecedented times as our schools must rely on the community to fund the gap between what the state provides and what it actually costs to educate our kids.

“We are beyond grateful for our generous sponsors who chose to still contribute their sponsorships for our annual event, demonstrating their belief that every child deserves the very best educational opportunities, regardless of current circumstances or zip code.” said Trisha Garlock.  “Thank you to our founding partners, the Marin Independent Journal, Marin Community Foundation and Venables Bell and to our dedicated business sponsors Redwood Credit Union, Gruber Family Foundation, Bank of Marin, Marin Sanitary Service, Lakeview Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, Hennessy Funds, Dominican Univerisity, PBLWorksMcLeran Roofing, Harbor Point Charitable Foundation, Fishman Supply and Sutter Health Novato Community Hospital.”

So to commemorate our 8th annual event, we invite you join our sponsors and support each of Marin’s 36,044 students with a single contribution to SchoolsRule. Whether you have kids in public schools or not, every aspect of life improves when our public schools have the resources to do their job.