Charter School Association of Willits
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 680418701
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Willits, CA, USA
- Phone
- 7074595506
- Rating
- 85
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Education N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $5,844,962
- Expenses
- $5,368,114
- Assets
- $6,066,815
- Liabilities
- $1,790,582
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
10 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ALISON HUGHES (PRESIDENT)
- SALLY RULISON (VICE PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- RENEE HOUBART (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $97,526 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 organization holds a mission statement for each charter school. Refer to schedule o for additional information.wecs: our mission is to equip elementary students with the academic and social skills needed to think critically, and become self-motivated, curious, and capable citizens who respect themselves, others, community, diversity, and the environment. Willits elementary charter school promotes growth and development by providing all students with a safe and nurturing educational environment. Wcs: our mission is to provide a personalized, rigorous, and engaging education for all students. We strive to foster a love of learning and prepare students for success in college, career, and beyond. We value diversity and equity and are committed to creating a supportive, inclusive, and welcoming environment for all members of our school community.
What it reported doing in 2024
Operation of willits elementary charter school (wecs), a public tuition-free charter school serving students in grades kindergaren to 5. Led by principal and director, charlene bredder, wecs had student enrollment of approximately 140 students in the 2024-25 school year. Wecs, through inquiry-based methods and a strong focus on spanish language development, tackles academic curriculum in ways that are engaging, meaningful, and adaptable to a variety of learning styles. Inquiry-based education involves student-designed questions, investigation, data collection, and conversion of information into useful knowledge.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 93% 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
STRONG - 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: 77
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 53
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 83.6%; rating input score 84
- Program expense ratio: 90.9%; rating input score 91
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- 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: 8.2%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.13; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.3; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.8%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.5% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 8.8% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 83.6% of revenue deployed · 90.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $4.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $98K · 10 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $288K reported
- Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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: Audit committee oversight not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.