Eje Academies

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
202696218
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
El Cajon, CA, USA
Phone
6194014150
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$26,509,911
Expenses
$16,989,661
Assets
$43,289,330
Liabilities
$25,362,439

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOE LARA (PRESIDENT)
  • JANET VASQUEZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (RESIGNED 11/2024))
  • JORGE FLORES (INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JANET VASQUEZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (RESIGNED 11/2024)): $190,167 total reported compensation
  • ARIANA GONZALEZ (PRINCIPAL): $176,261 total reported compensation
  • EVANGELINA PACHECO (TRUSTEE/FACILITIES DIRECTOR): $175,058 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

As dual language charter schools, eje academies prepares students from diverse populations to excel in higher education and to be leaders in creating a just global society.

What it reported doing in 2024

Operation of two public charter schools; together serving students in grades k-8. The vision of eje academies is to provide a comprehensive and challenging educational plan that provides all children with the tools necessary for success. Students will become critical thinkers, biliterate, well-prepared, life-long learners through participation in a teacher-directed program, based on a balanced biliteracy approach in reading and language arts. The curriculum is aligned to the California state content and performance standards. Grade level proficiency is seen as a key to promotion to the next grade as well as to eventual secondary school readiness.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 96% 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 total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 69
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 56.7%; rating input score 57
  • Program expense ratio: 87.2%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • 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: 80%; rating input score 80; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 35.9%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.55; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.59; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.5%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 24.6% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 56.7% of revenue deployed · 87.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $14.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $190K · 13 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $13.9M reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 57/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.