Realm Charter Schools

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
273384701
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2017
Forms available
Form 990 2017
Location
Berkley, CA, USA
Phone
5108099800
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,422,081
Expenses
$5,661,073
Assets
$1,821,457
Liabilities
$2,658,241

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • VICTOR DIAZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • VICTOR DIAZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $147,645 total reported compensation
  • JORGE MELGOZA (PRINCIPAL): $142,958 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The purpose of this corporation is to manage, operate, guide, direct and promote one or more California public charter schools ("charter schools").

What it reported doing in 2017

Realm charter schools vision is to increase academic achievement and social responsibility by creating authentic and challenging learning environments based on four central program elements: (1) project-based learning, (2) immersive technologies, (3) mindfulness in education (transformative life skills), and (4) participatory action research. We seek to develop in each student the ability and passion to work wisely and creatively in order to become life-long learners with the skills necessary to contribute to the betterment of humankind. This will be accomplished by immersing our teachers and students in authentic and virtual learning environments that required collaboration, inquiry, critical thinking, ingenuity, imagination, and active problem-solving.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 99% 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

STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and assets have declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70.9%; rating input score 71
  • Program expense ratio: 80.4%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 11.8%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.32; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.46; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.1%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -8.5% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 70.9% of revenue deployed · 80.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $148K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2013 to 2017
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 13/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 3/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 47/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.