Hawaii Association of Independent Schools

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237067376
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Honolulu, HI, USA
Phone
8089731540
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,828,783
Expenses
$2,061,182
Assets
$849,162
Liabilities
$583,188

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RUTH FLETCHER (PRESIDENT)
  • ROBERT DAVID GAUDI (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • PHILIP J BOSSERT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SECRETARY)

Highest reported compensation

  • PHILIP J BOSSERT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SECRETARY): $212,600 total reported compensation
  • DEANNA D'OLIER (ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR): $136,483 total reported compensation
  • MYRNA MEDEIROS (FORMER BUSINESS OFFICER): $113,878 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 hawai'i association of independent schools (hais) advocates on behalf of independent education in Hawaii, provides services that strengthen individual schools and engages them to achieve educational quality and excellence for all students. Hais facilitates collaborative efforts among its more than 100 member schools on issues of mutual concern, as well as partnerships to address shared needs. The primary activities of hais are: 1) perpetuating school renewal through accreditation and/or licensing of its member schools; 2) developing and delivering professional development opportunities relevant to 21st century learning for the faculty and staff of its member schools; 3) promoting choice as an important community value and assisting parents in learning about independent education; 4) creating public-private partnerships that support and enhance public education.

What it reported doing in 2024

The annual hais leadership (heads and trustee) summit is offered annually to members of hais's school leadership teams. The event is centered around a significant topic of importance facing member schools, such as risk, safety, governance issues and so forth. It generally includes several speakers who are experts on the focal topic. Hais supports its 100 member schools by developing and offering professional learning opportunities and events, which include conferences, workshops, webinars and other programs for school administrators and teachers. Hais programs comprise one facet of the services offered to membership, which both directly and indirectly impact more than 3,200 educators and 33,500 students statewide. Accreditation - a school improvement program of peer review evaluation which certifies that schools meet certain standards defined by an independent entity, such as the western association of schools and colleges (wasc) and hais. Through the process, schools hold themselves publicly accountable to families, foundations, corporations, financial institutions interested in supporting educational institutions, and all who seek assurance that a school meets certain generally accepted standards of educational quality, operation and staff competence.this process involves a self-study which guides future school improvement. It provides for self-examination that relates all elements of a school and their impact upon student learning. The entire school community is involved as each constituent group assists to evaluate how well the school achieves its mission and expected learning outcomes for students in a financially sustainable manner.hawai'i council of private schools (hcps) licensing - all private schools in Hawaii are required to be licensed by the Hawaii council of private schools (hcps) or accredited by a recognized accrediting body to ensure that they meet basic health, safety, operational and education program criteria to operate as a school, according to act 188 (1995), act 227 (2019) and act 61 (2022) passed by the Hawaii state legislature. The Hawaii council of private schools (hcps), the licensing arm of hais, is authorized by the Hawaii state legislature to license all private schools offering k-12 educational programs in the state of Hawaii. Hcps verifies that all private schools in the state of Hawaii meet and maintain minimum educational, safety and health requirements set by the state.the annual kahewai summit is held virtually and explores holistic approaches to achieving wellness and resilience through trauma-informed care strategies for all providers who serve children ages 0-5. The summit engages attendees with opportunities to learn and refine wellness and resilience practices aimed at supporting those serving hawai'i's early learning communities and is attended virtually by about 400 participants.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 94% 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. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 61
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 15
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.7%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 82.6%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 18.8%; rating input score 19; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: -12.7%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.41; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.69; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 22.5%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 93.7% of revenue deployed · 82.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $213K · 22 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $110K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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: Grant itemization coverage scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.