Education Alternatives

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
341896478
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Brookpark, OH, USA
Phone
2163329360
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12

Reported finances

Revenue
$20,298,612
Expenses
$19,564,004
Assets
$19,084,618
Liabilities
$5,188,718

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DR DAVID BALL (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • DR DAVID BALL (PRESIDENT)
  • DR CHRISTINE SWARTZ (BOARD MEMBER)
  • MIKE MANDALA (BOARD MEMBER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The organizations mission is to provide academic and therapeutic services for students experiencing emotional and behavioral difficulties.

What it reported doing in 2024

Education alternatives was founded in 1999 as a non profit 501(c)(3) agency to promote academic and therapeutic services for students with emotional and behavioral difficulties. The first school year began with nine employees and thirteen students in one location. Fifteen years later, the agency employs approximately 280 clinicians, teachers, and associates and provides education for more than 400 students from over 50 school districts in ine locations in ne Ohio. Academic services follow the Ohio department of educations academic content standards, students take all state-mandated achievement and proficiency tests. Therapeutic services help students understand their disorders that may be inhibiting their emotional and behavioral growth. Group and individual therapy, crisis counseling, social skills and anger management training are provided. The ultimate goal of the agency is to help students learn to manage their disabilities and live a healthy lifestyle and contribute to society.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 95% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 50
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.7%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 71.5%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.6%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.98; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.7% of revenue deployed · 71.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $14M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $9.3M reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: 5 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 49/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 35/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 49/100.