Alternative Paths Training School

Legal name: Alternative Paths Training School Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
542055003
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Dumfries, VA, US
Phone
(703) 348-5361
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Specialized Education Institutions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$22,705,669
Expenses
$21,967,288
Assets
$26,783,100
Liabilities
$7,816,525

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALAN EL TAGI (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ALAN EL TAGI (PRESIDENT): $309,527 total reported compensation
  • WREN GRIFFITH (DIRECTOR OF RISK MGT AND G): $191,973 total reported compensation
  • DAVID KOURY (DIRECTOR OF FINANCE/TREASU): $175,127 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

APTS is a year-round special education day school offering a highly structured classroom setting for students whose disabilities include Autism and other Developmental Disabilities, not limited to Emotional and or Learning Disabilities. The program specializes in an intensive delivery of services to students who engage in self-injurious behaviors (SIBs) as well as aggressive behaviors.

What it reported doing in 2024

Apts community outreach offers behavioral services in the form of crisis stabilization, functional behavioral assessment, behavior intervention plan development, data analysis, and outcome measurement to family members/caregivers and staff. Our consultants work with these individuals to create person-centered programming. We also conduct interactive training workshops that focus on the use of behavior analysis tools for professionals with the context of their own supportive environments. Our services are aimed at empowering the family and/or organization to become their own best resource in effecting long-lasting behavioral growth for those in their care. Apts partners with organizations to bring this expertise to underserved families throughout the u.s. And world via donating money and bcba services.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 99% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 72
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.7%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 82.4%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.3 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.3%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.22; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.29; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 7 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 4 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 79.7% of revenue deployed · 82.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 6 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $18.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $310K · 12 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 8/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 42/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 47/100.