Mojave River Academy

Legal name: Mojave River Academy Schools

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
843602779
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Victorville, CA, US
Phone
(760) 243-5884
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$68,691,769
Expenses
$51,425,283
Assets
$79,930,228
Liabilities
$13,331,598

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • EDNA RODRIGUEZ (PRESIDENT)
  • KARI HEMSLEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • DERRICK DELTON (SUPERINTENDENT): $311,085 total reported compensation
  • SHAWN BELL (ASST. SUPT. HR/PERSONNEL): $252,731 total reported compensation
  • KYLA GONZALES-RIVERA (ASST. SUPT. ED. SVCS.): $243,437 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Educating ALL students to be successful adults

What it reported doing in 2024

A seat time tk-12 charter school, serving approximately 3,619 students from the oro grande, route 66, silver mountain, national trails, marble city, rockview park, and gold canyon communities. Mojave river academy schools 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 schools 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
Grant-funded. 97% 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 filed governance safeguards are in place. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 58
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 81
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 58.7%; rating input score 59
  • Program expense ratio: 77.1%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 19th 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: 25.1%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.55; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.17; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.7%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17.7% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 34.6% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 12 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 58.7% of revenue deployed · 77.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 3 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $39.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $311K · 19 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $20.7M reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.