Columbus Christian Academy
Legal name: Columbus Christian Academy Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 300139608
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Steens, MS, United States
- Phone
- 662-328-7888
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,603,966
- Expenses
- $1,664,868
- Assets
- $1,906,926
- Liabilities
- $710,886
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Rex Gillis (Vice President)
- Joseph Grissom (President)
People named in this filing
- Matt Phillips (Secretary)
- Rex Gillis (Vice President)
- Jeremy Bandre (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
& Vision Mission In partnership with parents and area evangelical churches, CCA strives to provide a Christ-centered education of excellence to enable students to soar in truth and wisdom and to become men and women of true faith, equipped to stand strong for Christ and impact their world for eternity. Scripture teaches that each person is divinely equipped with a unique set of abilities and potential—and that person is worthy of respect and dignity as an individual. As such, CCA is for the _whole person_ and strives to develop each segment of the student’s life: spiritual, intellectual, social, emotional, physical. We're intentional in helping students grow in each of these areas—from preschool to graduation. Spiritual Spiritual values are the foundation of a person’s character. The life and teachings of Jesus instruct us how to have a relationship with God as well as provide us...
What it reported doing in 2024
CCA served 240 students during the fiscal year. With a focus on excellence, the school became the only K-3 through 12 school in Mississippi to achieve accreditations of Christian, public and private school academic associations. These prestigious accreditations include MAIS-Mississippi Association of Independent Schools, SACS-Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and ACSI-Association of Christian Schools International.CCA has maintained accreditation standards and provided students an education that enabled them to score consistently above average on the Stanford Achievement Test as well as enabled them to develop a genuine sense of accomplishment and learn that they are accountable to God for using their talents and abilities.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 90% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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
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: 78
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 70
- Sustainability: 38
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 88.1%; rating input score 88
- Program expense ratio: 86.7%; rating input score 87
- 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: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -3.8%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.15; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.37; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 88.1% of revenue deployed · 86.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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: 4 of 6 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 26/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 47/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 21/100.