Community School of the Arts

What it reported doing in 2024

The community school of the arts ("the school") was established in 1991 as a non-profit organization to provide affordable quality instruction in the visual and performing arts to children of varied socio-economic backgrounds in knox county and the surrounding region, particularly those from underserved inner-city and rural areas. The school officially opened its doors in september 1992, offering beginning piano lessons twice a week to a student body of 22 youngsters from east knoxville, all of whom attended on full financial aid.after only two years of operation, the school received full accreditation as a member of the national guild of community schools of the arts, making it one of three such accredited institutions in the state of Tennessee. The school was also honored to receive the mayor's arts award in the category of education and special projects in 1995 and 1997.the school offers private, one-on-one instructions in the discipline of piano, violin, brass instruments and voice as well as group classes in the visual arts, modern dance and choral performance in an after- school program conducted by professional, part-time faculty five days a week (monday through friday). One hundred and twenty four students were enrolled during the 2023-2024 school year; 100% of the students attend on full scholarship.the school also serves an additional 60 children per week through partnerships with other non-profit organizations, providing offsite art and music therapy classes to students at green magnet steam academy, the crutcher memorial youth enrichment center, and the knox county homeless tutoring project.in addition to its regular weekly schedule of classes and offsite programs, the school offers side-by-side an annual apprenticeship program which pairs scholarship students in the visual arts program with a professional, working artist in his or her studio. Artist and student work side-by-side to create original pieces of art, which are displayed in a full-scale exhibit at benefit galleries. Participating artists include richard jolley, tommie rush, peter rose, marcia goldenstein, and andrew saftel.student turnover at the school is minimal: the average length of enrollment for a student is 7 years; over one hundred students have graduated from the program as seniors, all of whom have gone on to higher education, some with scholarship assistance from the school.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 37%; rating input score 37
• Program expense ratio: 39.2%; rating input score 39
• Fundraising efficiency: $6.3 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 25th 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Fail
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • 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: 5.4%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.02; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 33.3%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: -4.6% per year; rating input score 0; 18th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings