Universal Academy

Legal name: Ltts Charter School Inc Dba Universal Academy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
752739703
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Jul 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Irving, TX, USA
Phone
(972) 255-1800
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$21,697,538
Expenses
$22,488,098
Assets
$45,014,187
Liabilities
$44,625,583

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JANICE BLACKMON (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DR DANA JOBE (SUPERINTENDENT): $376,724 total reported compensation
  • JANICE BLACKMON (PRESIDENT): $376,576 total reported compensation
  • ANDREA BUTCHER (CFO): $224,575 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

At Universal Academy, our leadership team is dedicated to fostering excellence in education, innovation, and student success. Guided by our mission and core values, our administrators and directors work collaboratively to ensure a safe, engaging, and academically rigorous environment for every student.

What it reported doing in 2024

Universal academy is an open enrollment charter school that was founded in 1998. Since its inception universal academy currently has two campus locations (irving and coppell Texas). Texas education agency granted universal academy a 10- year charter renewal in 2022. Universal academy also received Texas education agency's approval for a site expansion to bartonville, Texas with an exclusive high-quality designation. The student enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year was 2036 students in grades pre-kindergarten - 12th grade. Universal academy is the first and only charter school in the state of Texas to offer the "world-class cambridge curriculum" as an official licensee. Universal academy has maintained its superior academic program and its Texas education agency "a" performance rating for the district.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 98% 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.8%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 66.9%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -3.6%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.99; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.4%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 3 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 69.8% of revenue deployed · 66.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 6 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $15M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $377K · 10 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $873K reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 39/100.