Crosslake Community School Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411961541
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Crosslake, MN, USA
Phone
2186925437
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,846,860
Expenses
$7,639,408
Assets
$10,891,224
Liabilities
$11,078,450

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • GENA MARIE JACOBSON (SPECIAL EDUCATION MANAGER): $114,606 total reported compensation
  • EMILY STULL RICHARDSON (MEMBER/TEACHER): $75,452 total reported compensation
  • JENNIFER LEADBETTER (EXEC DIR/DIR ONLINE LEARNING(END12/24)): $72,122 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To grow an environmentally literate, community impacting learners of excellence

What it reported doing in 2024

Crosslake community school is a free, public charter school in Minnesota serving students from preschool through 12th grade. The school operates two distinct programs: a seat-based in-person program for students in kindergarten through 8th grade at our crosslake campus, and a tuition-free online learning program serving students statewide in grades k-12. The school also offers a fee-based pre-kindergarten program. During the fiscal year ended june 30, 2025 crosslake community school served an estimated 562 students - 160 students enrolled in k-8 seat based learing, 35 students enrolled in k-5 online learning, and 367 students enrolled in 6-12 online learning.the organization's strategic focus areas include: (a) providing effective, relevant and individualized instruction in each classroom; (b) enhancing staff professional growth and support systems to ensure a high-quality learning environment; (c) promoting positive student interactions and a welcoming, inclusive learning community; (d) improving technology to support effective teaching and learning; and (e) improving and updating school operations, facilities and systems.fy2025 key accomplishments included: achieving fast track renewal status from authorizer osprey wilds with 105% of possible evaluation points; receiving board approval for enrollment cap increase from 500 to 700 students; improving graduation rate to 73% (up from 57% in 2021); celebrating 76 graduates in the class of 2025; implementing the mnmtss framework district-wide; and celebrating the school's 25th anniversary with the theme "forward."

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 98% 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. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 71
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.4%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 88.6%; rating input score 89
  • 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: 50%; rating input score 50; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.6%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.43; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.02; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.8%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.1% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.5% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.4% of revenue deployed · 88.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 8 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $6.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $115K · 10 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $155K reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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: Independent voting board scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 43/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 48/100.