Aealas Dba Albert Einstein Academy for Arts&science

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
271334946
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2015
Forms available
Form 990 2015
Location
Santa Clarita, CA, USA
Phone
6617020755
Rating
90
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Reported finances

Revenue
$13,251,752
Expenses
$12,674,638
Assets
$6,357,840
Liabilities
$10,723,276

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2015. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KIRK KAWASAWA (PAST BOARD PRESIDENT)
  • JEFFREY SHAPIRO (PAST CEO)
  • TRICIA BLUM (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHAEL FISHLER (CAO): $113,418 total reported compensation
  • TRICIA BLUM (CEO): $87,338 total reported compensation
  • RACHEL NATHAN (SECRETARY): $47,259 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2015. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission is to provide an interdisciplanary educational experience offering several languages on a platform of intellectual, artistic, physical, technological, and social competencies to second level students. The academy aims to promote a lifelong appreciation of learning, intellectual integrity, and an understanding of the inter-relationship between the disciplines.

What it reported doing in 2015

Aealas is a charter school management organization that manages and operates several public co-educational charter schools providing elementary and scondary education for grades k-12.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 97% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and assets have declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 88.6%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 92.6%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: $167.99 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.4%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.5; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.69; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.3%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 34.5% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -9.9% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 88.6% of revenue deployed · 92.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $11.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $113K · 12 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $315K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2012 to 2015
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 23/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.
  • Review — Grant Readiness: California registration: this organization could not be resolved against the register, so the check is unfinished.