East Side Learning Center
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 043699678
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- St Paul, MN, USA
- Phone
- 6517580851
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Educational Services and Schools - Other
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $639,408
- Expenses
- $571,697
- Assets
- $1,114,673
- Liabilities
- $20,565
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
19 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- KARMIT BULMAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- KARMIT BULMAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $101,253 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
East side learning center's mission is "unlocking each child's potential through the foundation of reading."
What it reported doing in 2024
During 2024-2025, 9,500 one-to-one tutoring hours for 167 students at three st. Paul public elementary schools and two virtual after-school cohorts and 127 parents participate in one or more family engagement activities. Students were assessed at the beginning of the school year and at mid-year and end of year using nationally recognized assessments. The assessment results: benchmark=met grade level reading expectations. Accelerated=made more than one year of growth. Kindergarten: 100% met benchmark for letter name identification, 100% met benchmark for letter sound identification, 54% met benchmark for high-frequency word identification.1st grade fluency track: 58% met benchmark for fluency and/or accuracy, 58% made accelerated growth in fluency and/or accuracy. 2nd grade: 96% met benchmark for fluency and/or accuracy, 64% made accelerated growth in fluency and/or accuracy. 3rd grade: 93% met benchmark for fluency and/or accuracy, 48% made accelerated growth in fluency and/or accuracy. 72% of students demonstrated social emotional growth on the panorama assessment of social-emotional learning.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 78% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 59
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 58
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 59.9%; rating input score 60
- Program expense ratio: 65.5%; rating input score 65
- Fundraising efficiency: $8.74 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
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: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 10.6%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.95; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 17.7%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 59.9% of revenue deployed · 65.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $374K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $101K · 19 people listed
- Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 34/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.