Sarasota Academy of the Arts Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
460657261
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Sarasota, FL, USA
Phone
9413772278
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,596,387
Expenses
$2,406,767
Assets
$4,963,157
Liabilities
$3,747,695

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARY STEWART KENNEDY (President)
  • DENISE VERHEUL (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • MARY STEWART KENNEDY (President)
  • DENISE VERHEUL (Vice President)
  • DAN DEMBICKI (Treasurer)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of sarasota academy of the arts (saa) is to provide a motivating, challenging, and creative learning climate with a safe, caring, family atmosphere. Saa will provide students interested in visual and performing arts with rigorous academic skills in line with Florida standards and a strong infusion of the arts.

What it reported doing in 2024

Sarasota Academy of the Arts (SAA) is a public charter school authorized by the Sarasota County School Board to provide a free public education for students in grades kindergarten through eight. SAA had an enrollment of 202 students at the end of its first year and now serves 194 students. As a public school, SAA follows the calendar of the traditional public schools, 180 days of instruction for eight hours per day. The niche provided by SAA is that of a performing and visual arts school, open to all students within commuting distance. Students in the past have participated in onstage musical performances including Mamma Mia! and Disney Our Way musicals, and many community service activities. The middle school music program completed performances with our National Beta Team in Orlando. These activities are directly related to the Mission Statement in that we wish to develop students who are well-rounded with self-confidence in themselves.Throughout the year the students participated in several community service activities including food campaigns. Students attend SAA for an extended day 8:15 AM to 4:15 PM. This allows each student to participate in the core academic classes expected in any school day. It also allows for classes in physical education, Spanish, art, technology, and music. Students needing extra help, have access to services provided in ESOL, exceptional education, gifted classes as well as intensive math and reading.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 99% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 79.9%; rating input score 80
  • 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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7.3%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.06; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.76; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 23.7% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74% of revenue deployed · 79.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 57/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 11/100.