Aspira of Delaware Charter Operations In

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
264060822
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Newark, DE, USA
Phone
3022921463
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$32,851,155
Expenses
$34,954,711
Assets
$72,097,685
Liabilities
$103,461,620

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARGIE LOPEZ-WAITE (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

Highest reported compensation

  • DEBBIE PANCHISIN (DIRECTOR (HOS - HS)): $200,026 total reported compensation
  • JOSE AVILES (DIRECTOR (HOS - K8)): $199,791 total reported compensation
  • MARGIE LOPEZ-WAITE (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $198,079 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of the las americas aspira academy (laaa) is to educate and empower each student to realize their full potential and positively impact their communities. Laaa serves students k-12. Located in new castle county, the school seeks to achieve a student body that is 50% first language spanish - english language learners & 50% first language english - spanish language learners.

What it reported doing in 2024

School operations - aspira academy welcomes students from diverse ethnic, racial, language (english & spanish), and socio-economic backgrounds. Half of the academy's students are primarily english-speakers and the other half are primarily spanish speakers.the academy's curriculum is rigorous and challenging. At aspira, they believe every child is college bound or career ready. All students will become bilingual, bi-literate and bicultural within six years in the program while gaining the academic, physical, social and emotional skills to succeed in school and in life.the curriculum is aligned with Delaware standards and is project-based, so students learn by doing.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 90% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 88.2%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 82.6%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: 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: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • 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: -6.4%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.06; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.44; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.8% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.3% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.5% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 88.2% of revenue deployed · 82.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $28.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $200K · 18 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Conflict-of-interest policy not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.