Mojave River Academy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
264614157
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2019
Forms available
Form 990 2019
Location
Oro Grande, CA, USA
Phone
7602453222
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$446,852
Expenses
$1,067,803
Assets
$14,875,374
Liabilities
$5,549,048

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2019. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARLENE HENRY (PRESIDENT)
  • KARI HEMSLEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • HEATHER GRIGGS (SUPERINTENDENT): $263,137 total reported compensation
  • STEVEN BUCKHAVE (DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT): $211,142 total reported compensation
  • WILLIAM FLYNN (ASST. SUPT. BUSINESS SERVI): $206,933 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2019. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Empower students through an extraordinary choice in education by providing programs that gives a variety of learning opportunities to our students. We offer a rigorous 21st century curriculum that prepares our students to complete in today's global marketplace.

What it reported doing in 2019

Mojave river academy believes that a quality education for all students can be achieved through high standards for academic performance and behavior. Mojave river academy is an independent study school for kindergarten through twelfth grade that is dedicated to ensuring the academic success of every student and providing a safe, nurturing, rigorous, and relevant educational experience. The independent study program at mojave river academy is known for its personalized focus by teachers and staff encouraging critical thinking, problem solving, responsibility and ultimately success for all students on an individual basis. Weekly individualized instruction is the cornerstone of this independent study program.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 62% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
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. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 50
  • Transparency & Controls: 78
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.7%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 23.4%; rating input score 23
  • 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: Pass
    • 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: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -139%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 13.93; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.37; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.9%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -23% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -12.2% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21.1% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.7% of revenue deployed · 23.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $250K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $263K · 10 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2012 to 2019
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: 3 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 23/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 17/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.