Midlands Stem Charter School
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 463368831
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Winnsboro, SC, USA
- Phone
- 8038151524
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Charter Schools
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $4,788,735
- Expenses
- $4,489,039
- Assets
- $1,148,436
- Liabilities
- $24,287
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- LIONEL KENNEDY (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- LIONEL KENNEDY (CEO): $106,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our mission is to produce stem proficient, physically fit students. Our goal is to prepare youth for the future by equipping them with the skills they need for gainful employment and healthy lives.
What it reported doing in 2024
See schedule omidlands stem charter school (mscs) offers a unique opportunity for students to obtain a high quality education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (stem). Mscs is a tuition-free public charter school and opened in august 2014. Mscs's mission is to produce academically and physically fit stem proficient students. Msi offers parents and guardians a choice of traditional grade structures or multi-age learning environments, and the option of face-to-face or online distance learning. In addition to providing an alternative to traditional public school or private school educational options, mscs serves kindergarten (age 5) students through 11th grade and adds a grade every year until matriculation at 12th grade. At mscs, students have learning opportunities that help them set courses for productive futures. Msi's goal is to prepare our youth for the furture by equipping them with the skills they need for gainful employment and healthy lives. Stem education goes well beyond traditional school curriculum, and opens avenues for students in a variety of fields. Students at msi learn through engaging and challenging experiences that focus on problem-solving in real world settings. Msi's health and fitness program focuses on physical fitness, well-being, diet, and nutrition. Mscs is focused on stem education, but also provides spanish language instruction, art, music, sports, clubs, and cultural experiences.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 99% 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
STRONG - 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: 69
- Transparency & Controls: 90
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 46
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 75.8%; rating input score 76
- Program expense ratio: 80.9%; rating input score 81
- 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: Limited
- 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: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 6.3%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.26; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.4%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 75.8% of revenue deployed · 80.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.6M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $106K · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules
- Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 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.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.