Life Source International Charter School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
261375692
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2022
Forms available
Form 990 2022
Location
Lancaster, CA, USA
Phone
6615792970
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$10,378,344
Expenses
$8,915,749
Assets
$7,108,726
Liabilities
$3,681,177

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JEFFREY PATTERSON (PRESIDENT)
  • DR DEBERAE CULPEPPER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • DR DEBERAE CULPEPPER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $278,128 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

We are committed to academic excellence by vigorously engaging students in a rigorous, student-centered learning environment that will foster the development of global citizens.

What it reported doing in 2022

Through its academically advanced curriculum, life source international charter school's vision is to produce globally responsible citizens who are challenged to cultivate personal, positive, and impactful change in their communities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 90% 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: 60
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 55
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 63.8%; rating input score 64
  • Program expense ratio: 74.2%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • 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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 14.1%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.8; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.52; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.1%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.9% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.8% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 63.8% of revenue deployed · 74.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $6.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $278K · 4 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2011 to 2022
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 29/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.