IOTA Community Schools
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 470970499
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Memphis, Tennessee, US
- Phone
- (901) 730-8160
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Secondary, High School
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $38,542,248
- Expenses
- $35,525,471
- Assets
- $34,862,828
- Liabilities
- $11,923,104
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
13 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Jocquell Rodgers (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Jocquell Rodgers (Executive Director): $240,449 total reported compensation
- Daniel Penaranda (Chief Financial Officer): $205,225 total reported compensation
- Marysa Utley (Chief of Schools (Left Mid-Year)): $165,858 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 transform public education, ensuring every student is equipped for college, leadership, and life.
What it reported doing in 2024
IOTA Community Schools is a network of public charter schools serving students and families across the Mid-South. The organization operates Title I middle and high schools focused on preparing historically underserved students for college, career, and long-term economic success through rigorous academics, character development, and personalized student support.During the 2024 - 2025 academic year, IOTA continued its commitment to providing high-quality educational opportunities in communities with significant economic and educational barriers.(Continued on Schedule O)IOTA's academic model emphasizes retention, rigor, and results through small-school environments, data-driven instruction, individualized intervention strategies, and strong student relationships. In addition to academic programming, students received social-emotional support services, college and career readiness programming, extracurricular opportunities, and behavioral health resources designed to support the "whole child."Program accomplishments during the year included:-Expansion and enhancement of academic intervention and student support services focused on improving student achievement and long-term outcomes;-Ongoing implementation of student-centered instructional practices and staff development initiatives designed to strengthen academic rigor and classroom effectiveness;-Provision of safe, structured, and supportive learning environments for students and families in historically underserved communities;-Continued investment in operational sustainability, school quality, and long-term organizational effectiveness to support future student success.The organization incurred approximately $29.8 million in program service expenses in support of these educational programs and services during the fiscal year. During the fiscal year, IOTA Community Schools executed a strategic school closure/consolidation initiative designed to optimize long-term academic quality, operational efficiency, and financial sustainability across the network.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 84% 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 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: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 84
- Accountability: 91
- Sustainability: 52
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 75.1%; rating input score 75
- Program expense ratio: 84%; rating input score 84
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- 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: 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: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 7.8%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.98; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.34; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.3%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 18.8% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 7 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 75.1% of revenue deployed · 84% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $29.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $240K · 13 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.1M reported
- Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 35/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.