PIAA is divided for administrative purposes into 12 geographic districts, each of which has a District Committee elected by the member schools within the District. Each District Committee elects a chairman, who becomes District's representative on the Board of Directors, the statewide governing body of the organization. Two of the Districts (District 3 and 7), by virtue of number of member schools under its jurisdiction, has two additional representatives on the Board of Directors. Two of the Districts (District 1 and 12), by virtue of the number of member schools under their respective jurisdictions, each have a second representative on the Board of Directors.

Other members of the Board of Directors include representatives of member junior high/middle schools, the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA), the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators (PASA), the Pennsylvania Principals Association, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Directors Association (PSADA), Pennsylvania Coaches Association (PCA), the Pennsylvania Department Education (PDE), one female and one male PIAA-registered sports official, chairpersons of the Girls' Athletics and Private Schools' Steering Committees, and one female and one male representative from the Parents Advisory Committee. With the sometime exception of the officials' and parents' representatives, the members of the Board of Directors are experienced professional educators who have background and experience in dealing with high school athletics.