Leman Academy of Excellence

Legal name: Leman Academy of Excellence Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
471237723
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Tucson, AZ, USA
Phone
877-235-3626
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$50,496,559
Expenses
$48,301,578
Assets
$139,295,928
Liabilities
$125,487,708

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • KIMBERLY A EARLENBAUGH (PRINCIPAL): $108,661 total reported compensation
  • ERIC CAREY (PRINCIPAL): $106,430 total reported compensation
  • MARSHA JONES (PRINCIPAL): $105,322 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Leman Academy of Excellence offers an education where scholars build strong academic, character and critical-thinking skills.

What it reported doing in 2024

A public charter school for grades k-8.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 92% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 58
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.2%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 83.2%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 4.3%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.88; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.9; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.8%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.9% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.2% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 77.2% of revenue deployed · 83.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $40.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $109K · 10 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.1M reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.