Grundy County High School Career & Technical Education (CTE) Department will receive a Supporting Postsecondary Access in Rural Communities (SPARC) grant from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC). The grant is awarded to distressed and at-risk counties in the state, as designated by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) index of economic status. Grundy County is one of 39 counties in Tennessee to receive an investment from the 2021 cohort of SPARC grant recipients. The third round of SPARC grant funding is a total investment of over $5 million.

SPARC is a targeted grant program for high school and adult learner populations with a specific focus on Career & Technical Education (CTE). SPARC aims to address the associated education and workforce factors that designate them as economically distressed and to remove common postsecondary education access barriers in rural counties.