Crete Academy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
813735306
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2016
Location
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Phone
3237911600
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,890,321
Expenses
$6,735,670
Assets
$1,534,471
Liabilities
$1,059,512

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOSS TILLARD GATES (ACTING PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • HATTIE MITCHELL (FOUNDER): $257,260 total reported compensation
  • BRETT MITCHELL (CHIEF BUSINESS OFFICER): $222,086 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Deliver an educational program to students in grades tk-6th who are impacted by homeless and living in poverty. We focus on providing a program that will meet their physical, mental and emotional needs while developing strong character and critical thinking skills.

What it reported doing in 2024

Operation of a public charter school: the crete educational model focuses on the immediate, basic needs of students and their long-term educational needs. Crete's educational model includes a college preparatory curriculum that is designed to prepare students to succeed beyond the classroom. The crete wellness program ensures all students receive the proper nutrition, physical, mental, and emotional care they need.

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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.8%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 77.5%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.2%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.23; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.69; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.1%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 23.3% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 20.7% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.8% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.8% of revenue deployed · 77.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $257K · 10 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $402K reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 42/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 13/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.