Piedmont Community Charter School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
562153586
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Gastonia, NC, USA
Phone
7048532426
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Primary, Elementary Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$19,797,470
Expenses
$19,282,290
Assets
$40,013,624
Liabilities
$29,475,417

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL SATTERFIELD (PRESIDENT)
  • MELIA MAUDLIN (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JENNIFER KILLEN (HEAD OF SCHOOL): $153,336 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 piedmont community charter school is to provide a tuition-free k-12 school that offers a superior college preparatory educational option for the community and its families.

What it reported doing in 2024

Provide facilities, teachers, and materials to students enrolled at a public charter school.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 95% 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 73
  • Sustainability: 52
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.7%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 93%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

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

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.6%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.08; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.74; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.8%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90.7% of revenue deployed · 93% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 12 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $17.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $153K · 13 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 15 of 15 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Whistleblower policy not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.