GREEN Charter Schools

Legal name: Greenville Renewable Energy Education Network

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
452823466
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2012
Location
Greenville, SC, US
Phone
(864) 412-5003
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$35,938,746
Expenses
$36,281,016
Assets
$61,803,332
Liabilities
$54,646,965

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • THOMAS CRONIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • THOMAS CRONIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $199,977 total reported compensation
  • DAWN DEBOER (EMPLOYEE): $116,258 total reported compensation
  • CATHERINE WATT (EMPLOYEE): $116,034 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Global Renewable Energy Education Network (GREEN) prepares students in STEM to responsibly impact our complex, interconnected world through renewable energy, sustainability and conservation efforts.

What it reported doing in 2024

See schedule oglobal renewable energy education network is a non-profit organization that is currently operating 7 charter schools serving about 2700 students. Those locations are green greenville elementary school, green greenville middle school, green spartanburg school, green midlands school, green upstate high school and green simpsonville school. The spartanburg campus serves k5-8 grades. The greenville elementary school is serving grades k5-5 and green greenville middle school serves 6-8 grades. The green midlands school serves k5-8 grades and is located in irmo, sc. The green lowcountry school is serving grades k5-8 and is located in north charleston, sc. The green upstate high school is located in mauldin, sc and serves grades 9-12. The green simpsonville school serves k5 through grade 3 and grade 6 and is located in mauldin, sc as well.

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 available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. 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: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.5%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 79.6%; rating input score 80
  • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -1%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.7; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.88; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.1%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 20.5% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 19.4% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 23.7% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 80.5% of revenue deployed · 79.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $28.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $200K · 14 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $722K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 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
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 27/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 11/100.