Cherokee County Charter School
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 842787892
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2019–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Gaffney, SC, USA
- Phone
- 8644897192
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Charter Schools
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $9,812,305
- Expenses
- $9,602,454
- Assets
- $10,459,510
- Liabilities
- $12,670,818
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
10 people listed
People named in this filing
- A K PARKER (BOARD CHAIR)
- SUZANNE TURNER (BOARD VICE CHAIR)
- ROGER MILLER (TREASURER)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Cherokee charter academy will continuously develop the next generation of american citizens by developing creative, problem-solving minds through the education of the whole student. Our school will have a challenging learning environment with high expectations set in a creative and caring atmosphere to grow the intellectual, character, physical, social, and emotional sides of all our students.
What it reported doing in 2024
The school enrolled approximately 620 students in kindergarten though the eighth grade during the 2024-2025 school year. The school ranked as the top preforming elementary school in cherokee county. It also won the prestigeous gold top school award from our sponsor, the charter institute at erskine.the middle school earned an excellent report card grade.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 94% 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: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 90
- Accountability: 70
- Sustainability: 43
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 78.5%; rating input score 78
- Program expense ratio: 80%; rating input score 80
- 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: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 2.1%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.09; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.21; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 28.8% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 29.5% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -2.2% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 78.5% of revenue deployed · 80% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $7.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $1.5M reported
- Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 42/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 3/100.