Oakland School for the Arts

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
680463892
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Oakland, CA, USA
Phone
5108738800
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Reported finances

Revenue
$18,623,147
Expenses
$16,157,182
Assets
$11,619,032
Liabilities
$5,841,431

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SAFIA FASAH (CHAIR/CEO)
  • MIKE OZNOWICZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MIKE OZNOWICZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $307,916 total reported compensation
  • SARA ORDAZ (DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL EDUCATION): $188,448 total reported compensation
  • RACHEL DALTON (VICE PRINCIPAL): $173,836 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To establish and maintain a positive school culture in which all students are motivated to learn, support each other, and have structures in place that assist students in accessing their full artistic and academic potential.

What it reported doing in 2024

Oakland school for the arts (osa) is a nonprofit public charter school founded by governor jerry brown - then oakland's mayor - in 2002. For more than 20 years, osa has been serving over 800 students in grades 6-12 tuition-free. Osa is housed in uptown oakland's historic fox theater and newberry building. Osa is a linked learning pathway school offering an immersive arts program and a strong academic curriculum. We serve youth from across the bay area with a preference for oakland-based students. Osa students complete a challenging academic curriculum with an emphasis in one of ten artisitic fields: audio production and engineering, dance, digital media, fashion design, instrumental music, literary arts, production design, theatre, visual arts and vocal music.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 89% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 50
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 62.1%; rating input score 62
  • Program expense ratio: 71.5%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.52 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 13.2%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.72; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.5; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.2%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -4.4% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 62.1% of revenue deployed · 71.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $11.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $308K · 13 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $1.1M reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 25/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.