Carolina International School
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 270047215
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Concord, NC, USA
- Phone
- 7044554659
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Charter Schools
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $9,119,183
- Expenses
- $8,695,579
- Assets
- $18,713,524
- Liabilities
- $24,294,715
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- PAUL A BRYANT (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $163,803 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Carolina international school ("cis") strives to develop caring and compassionate students and citizens who embody those character traits most respected in every culture. Hence character development at cis is immersed in every interaction and learning experience as a continual school-wide process. The program includes a service-learning component and actively involves parents and community leaders. The values that form the core of daily relationships and interactions at cis are respect, responsibility, solutions and services.
What it reported doing in 2024
North Carolina releases performance grades for all public schools across the state. The measures, called school performance grades, are required by the legislature and give every school a letter grade from a to f and are based primarily on student achievement with academic growth scores included. Carolina international school received a grade of c for the 2024-2025 school year. Their growth score was 91% which awarded the school with the measurement description of "exceeding growth." our enrollment remains solid. We continue to fiscally operate in the black, last year adding over $423,000 to our operating funds and anticipating that this year will continue this trend. Indeed, we have operated in the black every year of our existence. As we move towards conclusion the 2nd semester of the 21st year of existence of cis, our school continues to be strong in many key respects. We continue to see students living out our core values in exemplary ways, and being recognized for such in varied ways.
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
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 78
- Transparency & Controls: 66
- Accountability: 84
- Sustainability: 52
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 85.8%; rating input score 86
- Program expense ratio: 89.9%; rating input score 90
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- 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: 4.6%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.15; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.3; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.9%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 85.8% of revenue deployed · 89.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $7.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $164K · 6 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $851K reported
- Consistency: 15 of 15 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 50/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 3/100.