Center for Leadership in School Reform Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
611138855
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Louisville, KY, USA
Phone
5024453377
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,766,146
Expenses
$1,813,752
Assets
$952,566
Liabilities
$400,328

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • STEVE MCCAMMON (PRESIDENT CEO)
  • GEORGE THOMPSON (PAST PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • STEVE MCCAMMON (PRESIDENT CEO): $229,302 total reported compensation
  • GEORGE THOMPSON (PAST PRESIDENT): $125,190 total reported compensation
  • ANNISSA ROLAND (SENIOR ASSOCIATE): $119,494 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 schlechty center for leadership in school reform engages education leaders at the district school and classroom levels to: - enhance the capacity of the district to support and sustain reform at the building and classroom levels. - redesign schools so that they are more clearly focused on providing quality work for children and so that students become the true focus of all decisions made in schools. - help teachers parents and others who work in schools and classrooms to better understand the characteristics of quality work for students and ensure that teachers have the tools and support they need to design and deliver the highest quality of work for students.

What it reported doing in 2024

Strategic Change Agenda: The Schlechty Centers Strategic Change Agenda offers a fresh approach to Strategic Planning transforming traditional strategic planning into an active actionable nimble process that maps a customized path for positive change. At its core the Strategic Change Agenda is a dynamic guided thinking process that keeps students-your primary stakeholders-at the center. It aligns with accountability systems rooted in trust and fosters the growth of true learning organizations empowering schools and districts to create a bold forward-thinking vision for the future. The foundation of our approach is built on the principles of engagement leadership and continuous learning drawing on the insights and frameworks developed by our founder Dr. Phillip C. Schlechty. With over 37 years of experience transforming school systems we know that true change requires more than a plan; it requires a deep understanding of your systems current capacity and a roadmap for growth.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 94% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.7%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 82.5%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.81 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • 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: Yes; rating input score 100
  • 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: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.7%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.53; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.42; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 26.1%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -10.8% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -9.1% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -14.1% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.7% of revenue deployed · 82.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 6 filed program accomplishments · $1.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $229K · 8 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 43 of 43 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 29/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.