Innovative Special Education Services

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
900676269
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
St Paul, MN, USA
Phone
6512782307
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,585,892
Expenses
$2,359,267
Assets
$1,242,431
Liabilities
$201,235

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ERIN LAVERY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ERIN LAVERY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $160,980 total reported compensation
  • GIGI KRAUSE (DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL EDUCATION): $129,487 total reported compensation
  • CARINA ABATE-WRIGHT (DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL EDUCATION): $129,472 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To provide expert, service oriented sepcial education directorship to charter schools throughout Minnesota.

What it reported doing in 2024

Innovative special education services, doing business as indigo education, employs a variety of educational professionals to provide guidance to educators and administrative staff serving students with special needs in the kindergarten through 12th grade academic setting. Currently, the agency provides support to over 60 charter schools throughout the state of Minnesota. The agency provides both financial and programming guidance to school staff, as well as aiding in the dispute resolution process. Indigo education provides a variety of training opportunities to professionals employed at client schools. Training themes vary from behavior management in the classroom, due process compliance, collaboration and supervision of paraprofessionals, and expanding the continuum of special education supports within a district.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 98% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.6%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 83.2%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Limited
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 8.8%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.53; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 28.5%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.6% of revenue deployed · 83.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $161K · 10 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 18/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 49/100.