Palisades Charter High School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
920184898
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Pacific Palisades, CA, USA
Phone
(310) 230-6623
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$56,181,119
Expenses
$56,951,082
Assets
$42,643,686
Liabilities
$29,716,609

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PAMELA MAGEE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/PRINCIPAL)

Highest reported compensation

  • PAMELA MAGEE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/PRINCIPAL): $322,835 total reported compensation
  • DAVID SUAREZ (TEACHER): $237,667 total reported compensation
  • JEFF ROEPEL (DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY): $220,076 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Where We Empower Educational Excellence

What it reported doing in 2024

As a non-profit public high school serving students in grades 9-12, palisades charter high school serves in excess of 3,000 students from over 100 zip codes in the greater los angeles area by providing education and instruction. In january 2025, the palisades fire in the los angeles region directly impacted the organization. The fire caused significant facility damage and extended disruption to educational services. The fire led to a prolonged closure, displacement of students and staff, and substantial costs related to emergency response, temporary relocation, and instructional continuity.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 76% 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.9%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 86.5%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5,252.42 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • 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: 69.2%; rating input score 69; 20th 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: -1.4%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.75; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.7; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.1%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 87.9% of revenue deployed · 86.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 13 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $49.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $323K · 18 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.4M reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 21/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.