Herron High School Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
202010941
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Indianapolis, IN, USA
Phone
3172310010
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$30,016,283
Expenses
$26,116,866
Assets
$42,470,885
Liabilities
$20,826,534

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JANET H MCNEAL (PRESIDENT)
  • KATIE DORSEY (SR VICE PRESIDENT, ACADEMICS AFFAIRS)
  • CARROLL BILBREY (VICE PRESIDENT, OPERATIONS)
  • ADRIAN MILLER (PRESIDENT, BOARD OF DIRECTORS)
  • MINDY CUNNINGHAM (VICE PRESIDENT, BOARD OF DIRECTORS)

Highest reported compensation

  • JANET H MCNEAL (PRESIDENT): $227,606 total reported compensation
  • ANNE DECKARD (HEAD OF SCHOOL, HERRON HIGH SCHOOL): $162,346 total reported compensation
  • EMANUEL HARPER (HEAD OF SCHOOL, HERRON-RIVERSIDE HIGH SCHOOL): $153,659 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Herron high school partners with families and the community to provide a classical liberal arts education that integrates knowledge, inspires character and values community service.

What it reported doing in 2024

Herron high school, inc. (d/b/a herron classical schools) is a network of charter schools, operating herron high school, herron-riverside high school, and herron preparatory academy. Herron classical schools provides public, k-12 education through a classical, liberal arts curriculum. Hcs' curriculum is structured around a historical timeline which emphasizes the classic art and literature of many cultures. For the 2024-2025 school year, the schools served over 1,750 students during the academic year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 93% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.8%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 88.2%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $48.65 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings

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: 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 13%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.63; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.49; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.2%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.3% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.9% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.6% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.8% of revenue deployed · 88.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $23M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $228K · 21 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $262K reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

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

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 57/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.