Lowcountry Leadership Charter School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
460690522
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Hollywood, SC, USA
Phone
8438895527
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,278,564
Expenses
$6,975,447
Assets
$14,553,825
Liabilities
$11,039,366

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • JULIANNE LANG (PRINCIPAL): $140,898 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of lowcountry leadership charter school is to provide a safe, exceptional academic environment that cultivates independent learning, character enrichment, and regional awareness while developing accountable leaders, community stewards, and diverse thinkers through project-based experiences.

What it reported doing in 2024

Lowcountry leadership charter school educates students in preschool to 12th grade through a project-based education distinguished by academic excellence built on the premise of developing self-directed learners. The school provides a nurturing environment that builds positive self-esteem and an internal moral compass. They provide consistent, defined, and well thought out opportunities for teachers to act as facilitators and students to act as mentors and authentic experiences that connect the classroom to the real world making learning both relevant and meaningful.

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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 65.7%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 67.8%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 4.2%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.09; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.76; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.6% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 65.7% of revenue deployed · 67.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $141K · 10 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $367K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 11/100.