Liberty Classical Schools Educational Services Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
873737445
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Atlanta, GA, USA
Phone
6786314822
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Management & Technical Assistance

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,120,110
Expenses
$4,386,806
Assets
$1,993,051
Liabilities
$482,755

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MATTHEW KIRBY (CEO / EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MATTHEW KIRBY (CEO / EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $217,686 total reported compensation
  • MARK NOLAN (CFO): $214,551 total reported compensation
  • ROBERT KELLY (CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR / SECRETARY): $181,341 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 form, organize, operate, and support k through 12 charter schools that develop students in mind and character through a classical, content-rich cirriculum that emphasizes the principles of virtuous living, traditional learning, and civic responsibility grounded upon principles of objective truth, virtue, courage, courtesy, honesty, perserverance, self-government, and service; and, to provide such other programs and resources in furtherance of this purpose.

What it reported doing in 2024

Liberty classical schools is a charter management organization and its leadership team includes experienced operators of american classical education charter schools. It aligns its services exclusively to launch and support that school model in public charter school or private school environments. Liberty supports the establishment, management, data tracking and reporting, and administrative operations of a network of autonomous nonprofit charter schools that implement the american classical education model in the southeastern united states.in fy25, two new charter schools were launched, cherokee classical academy and fayette classical academy.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 51% for direct work, and 49% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 60
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 58.1%; rating input score 58
  • Program expense ratio: 67.5%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.66 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 14.3%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.45; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 23.4%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 66.7% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 55.9% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 64.3% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 58.1% of revenue deployed · 67.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $218K · 9 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $125K reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 58/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.