Charles R. Drew Charter School

Legal name: Drew Charter School Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN: 582528098
IRS 990 coverage: 2012–2024
Official website data refreshed: Sep 2026
Forms available: Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2021
Location: Atlanta, GA, USA
Phone: (404) 687-0001
Rating: 84
Verdict: STRONG
Rating confidence: Moderate
Sector: Charter Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue: $50,898,511
Expenses: $55,981,149
Assets: $37,201,864
Liabilities: $2,332,033

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

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Highest reported compensation

PETER MCKNIGHT (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $275,612 total reported compensation
LEONARDO FREYRE (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $243,915 total reported compensation
MONISHAE M O'NEILL (PRINCIPAL, ELEM ACADEMY): $243,732 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

We educate, nurture and empower all students to achieve their full potential as part of an exemplary, innovative, and equity-centered community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Drew charter school serves as a key component of the cradle-to-college pipeline within the holistic east lake neighborhood revitalization. Appreciating our unique status as a mixed-income school, drew charter school's primary purpose is to provide an excellent education to all children living in the villages of east lake so that each student reaches his or her full potential and is launched on a pathway to health, impact and prosperity.drew charter school's approach is based on the belief that every child has gifts and talents that must be discovered and nurtured. All students are consistently encouraged to strive to do their best so they may reach their highest potential. A drew education is one that supports strong intellectual, physical, social, and emotional growth, and drew charter school students are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and passion to create positive change in the world.

Operating model

Revenue model: Grant-funded. 93% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

Financial Efficiency: 81
Transparency & Controls: 84
Accountability: 100
Sustainability: 25
Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

Mission deployment rate: 94.2%; rating input score 94
Program expense ratio: 85.6%; rating input score 86
Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- 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; 77th 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: -10%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.66; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
Officer compensation ratio: 4.1%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

Program expense growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
Revenue growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
Asset growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
Where the money goes: 94.2% of revenue deployed · 85.6% of spending went to programs
Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $47.9M in reported program spending
Leadership: top reported pay $276K · 26 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.3M reported
Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
Contacts: How to reach this organization
Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.