Medical Center Charter School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
760506915
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2013
Forms available
Form 990 2013
Location
Houston, TX, USA
Phone
7137919977
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,414,760
Expenses
$2,286,729
Assets
$317,622
Liabilities
$75,982

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2013. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARGOT HEARD (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • SUPARNA VASHISHT (DIRECTOR): $44,328 total reported compensation
  • LAUREL WELKEY (DIRECTOR): $41,366 total reported compensation
  • JOHN DECKER (BUSINESS MGR): $38,965 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2013. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

A preparatory open-enrollment charter

What it reported doing in 2013

Operation of a public school with enrollment for fye 8/31/2012 of 330 students, the school provides academy program for pre kindergarten 3 through 6 and grades k-6

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 96% 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. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 53
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.7%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 91.6%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: Scored; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 42.9%; rating input score 43; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5.3%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.14; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: Limited

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 24.8% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.7% of revenue deployed · 91.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 7 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $44K · 7 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $211K reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and related organizations
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2009 to 2013
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: 5 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 43/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 5/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 50/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.