Salish School of Spokane

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
271126478
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2011
Location
Spokane, WA, USA
Phone
5093252018
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Primary, Elementary Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,603,579
Expenses
$2,254,581
Assets
$1,707,286
Liabilities
$57,586

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Randall Schleufer (Board President/Treasurer)
  • LaRea Wiley (Board Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • LaRea Wiley (Board Vice President): $9,758 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Dynamic Salish language revitalization powering cultural renewal and building a stronger, healthier community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Salish School of Spokane improves the lives of Native American people by revitalizing Salish language and culture. Our Salish revitalization activities include: 1) operating a Salish immersion preschool/ECEAP center for children aged 3-5 years; 2) operating a Salish immersion elementary school for children in kindergarten through 6th grade; 3) teaching Salish language to middle & high school students, and ; 4) teaching Salish language to adults, to teachers as part of our immersion school programming, and to community members in evening and weekend classes. We follow research-based practices regarding Native language revitalization and education- languages are revitalized through the reestablishment of intergenerational transmission, and Native students excel when their traditional language and culture are the foundation of their school experience.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 78% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 63
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.7%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 93.2%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 13.4%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.76; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.4%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 21% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.3% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.7% of revenue deployed · 93.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $10K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2013 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.