Growth Public Schools

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN: 474456355
IRS 990 coverage: 2015–2024
Forms available: Form 990 2024
Location: Sacramento, CA, USA
Phone: 9163945007
Rating: 83
Verdict: STRONG
Rating confidence: Moderate
Sector: Charter Schools

Reported finances

Revenue: $4,910,984
Expenses: $5,314,130
Assets: $5,080,005
Liabilities: $4,598,796

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Highest reported compensation

AUDRIA JOHNSON (PRINCIPAL/EXEC DIRECTOR): $168,063 total reported compensation
DEVONNA ABBOTT (PRINCIPAL): $106,943 total reported compensation
REALYN MCDANIEL (DIRECTOR OF STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES): $103,960 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Growth public schools (the schools) is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation and is organized to manage and operate a public charter school. The schools began serving students in august 2017 and is funded principally through state of California public education monies received through the California department of education.

What it reported doing in 2024

Growth public schools (the schools) is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation and is organized to manage and operate a public charter school. The schools began serving students in september 2017 and is funded principally through state of California public education monies received through the California department of education. Growth public schools served approximately 282 students in the surrounding community and had 175 instructional days in the fiscal year.

Operating model

Revenue model: Grant-funded. 98% 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: 79
Transparency & Controls: 84
Accountability: 100
Sustainability: 23
Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

Mission deployment rate: 79.1%; rating input score 79
Program expense ratio: 73.1%; rating input score 73
Fundraising efficiency: $508.97 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- 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; 63rd 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: -8.2%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.96; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.91; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
Officer compensation ratio: 7.1%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

Program expense growth: 17.3% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
Revenue growth: 17.1% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
Asset growth: 29.6% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

Where the money goes: 79.1% of revenue deployed · 73.1% of spending went to programs
Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.9M in reported program spending
Leadership: top reported pay $168K · 8 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $244K reported
Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
Contacts: How to reach this organization
Money network: 3 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 35/100.
High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 7/100.
Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.
Review — Grant Readiness: California registration: this organization could not be resolved against the register, so the check is unfinished.