Palmetto Excel Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
824501336
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-N 2022
Location
North Charleston, SC, USA
Phone
8435660072
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,762,264
Expenses
$2,100,224
Assets
$676,895
Liabilities
$556,902

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • ELLIOT SMALLEY (SENIOR DIRECTOR): $261,832 total reported compensation
  • RUTH CHAMBERS TURNER (SCHOOL DIRECTOR): $93,794 total reported compensation
  • JEREMY EASLEY (SCHOOL DIRECTOR): $76,711 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of palmetto excel-a locally-driven charter school based on the national excel center model-is to provide adults the opportunity and support to earn high school diplomas and postsecondary education while developing career paths that offer better-than-average employment and growth opportunities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Full-time life coaches. Recognizing the unique stressors, skills and needs of adult students, palmetto excel will employ full-time life coaches who will work with students on scheduling classes, setting goals, creating individualized plans, tracking graduation requirements and providing additional support. Life coaching at palmetto excel will address the major life barriers and issues that most often prevent students from being successful in school and in life. Recent graduates achieved 100% of workforce credentials.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 74% 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. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 17
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 89.8%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -19.2%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.32; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.82; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.7%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.2% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -24.9% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 67.3% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 89.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $262K · 13 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 15/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 59/100.