Clear Choice Academies Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 364775858
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Ocala, FL, USA
- Phone
- 3522649940
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Charter Schools
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $3,347,284
- Expenses
- $3,116,947
- Assets
- $4,757,680
- Liabilities
- $4,877,987
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- THERESA MATTHEWS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
People named in this filing
- DEBRA HART (DIRECTOR)
- THERESA MATTHEWS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
- DON SHROEDER (DIRECTOR)
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
Our mission is to help middle school students reach their greatest potential for academic, emotional, and personal success by combining individual learning styles, gifts and talents with comprehensive curriculum and high-achieving standards in a micro-school setting.
What it reported doing in 2024
Our vision is to create high-achieving schools that inspire and motivate students to become lifelong learners, responsible citizens, and positive role models in their communities. By minimizing classroom size, our micro-school concept provides opportunities for more individualized learning, safer school environments, and diverse thought and participation. We believe education is not limited to the classroom, and envision partnerships with community leaders, business owners, parents, and other individuals in creating opportunities for exploration, community participation, and experimental learning. This includes creating a positive, inviting, and inspiring workplace for instructors and those working in education by creating opportunities for professional development, personalized teaching techniques, and competitive compensation. The school successfully educated 275 students in 2023-2024 and 200 students in the 2022-2023 school year in grades 6 through 8.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 62
- Transparency & Controls: 86
- Accountability: 94
- Sustainability: 53
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 67.8%; rating input score 68
- Program expense ratio: 72.8%; rating input score 73
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 10th 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: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 6.9%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.53; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.03; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 22.7% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 18.8% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 42.2% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 67.8% of revenue deployed · 72.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 26 of 28 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Whistleblower policy not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D expense reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D revenue reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 52/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.