Altus-laurel Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
300788390
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2016
Forms available
Form 990 2016
Location
San Diego, CA, USA
Phone
8586782048
Rating confidence
Limited
Sector
Secondary, High School

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$0
Expenses
$0
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

2 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARY SEARCY BIXBY (President & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARY SEARCY BIXBY (President & CEO): $362,959 total reported compensation
  • LYNNE HERRERO ALIPIO (CFO): $261,488 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To support, benefit and carry out the purposes of laurel preparatory academy, a California public charter school that serves grades 6-12 to establish, manage, administer, guide, and direct related public schools that provide education based on the altus model.

What it reported doing in 2016

Laurel preparatory is an independent study, blended learning program that offers students an academically rigorous alternative to a traditional school setting. Our courses are based on California state course standards. At laurel, a student's educational experience is guided by a highly qualified staff in a safe, supportive environment. Students' course of study is based on a pathways personalized education plan ppep. This plan is developed by the teacher along with the student, and parents. It incorporates high school graduation requirements, the student's short-term and long-term goals, learning styles, previous work, current interests, academic achievement, skills development and standardized test scores. The ppep is reviewed and updated by the parents, student and teacher on a regular basis throughout the student's enrollment. Laurel's implementation includes teaching across the curriculum, self-paced lessons, and year-round open enrollment that many students find appealing.

Operating model

Revenue model
No positive adjusted resources. The filing reports no positive adjusted operating resources.
Distribution model
No current program activity. The filing reports no program spending for the current year.

The verdict

- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 37
  • Sustainability: NotEnoughData
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: Limited
  • Program expense ratio: Limited
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: Limited
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: Limited
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: Limited

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -40.7% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -34.7% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -32.3% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
  • Governance: 0 of 2 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $363K · 2 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 8 of 9 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2013 to 2016
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Series filing activity did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.