School Board School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
844385705
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Cincinnati, OH, USA
Phone
5132351057
Rating
88
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$259,999
Expenses
$307,498
Assets
$218,741
Liabilities
$1,767

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRISTINE FISHER - START 625 (INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • JEREMY JONES - EXIT 525 (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JEREMY JONES - EXIT 525 (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $50,154 total reported compensation
  • CHRISTINE FISHER - START 625 (INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $35,000 total reported compensation
  • ELISA HOFFMAN - EXIT 425 (FOUNDER & STRATEGIC ADVISOR): $30,019 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

At school board school, we are activating a diverse coalition of education advocates and aspiring school board members to create significant and sustainable change in their school system. We prepare them with the skills, mindsets, networks, and experiences needed to be ready to serve in roles impacting students throughout our community. And, we support them over the long-term, as they work together to reach their individual goals and in collective actions that drive change at schools, in districts, and throughout our region.

What it reported doing in 2025

Building & supporting a coalition for change: school board school recruits cohorts of aspiring school board members and education advocates that reflect the demographics of our community, and trains them in a 7-month learning program with a 22-session curriculum. Our learning program brings values-aligned community members together, grounds them in an understanding of how a school board works and why school boards are a critical component to building equitable school systems, and prepares them to effectively legislate and/or advocate for their children and community. After completing the learning program, we support our members over the long-term as they work together from seats across our community. Our members lead in classrooms, schools, districts, and nonprofits; run for office, including school board; organize & advocate at the local and state levels; and create equitable and inclusive policies and opportunities. We have been developing this coalition in greater cincinnati since 2018. In greater cincinnati, we have built one of the most diverse and informed networks of education leaders in the country. By investing in the development of future school board members and education advocates who reflect the diversity of our community's children, we are building a truly representative, informed, and sustainable coalition that is working together to ensure every child has the opportunity to succeed in school and in life.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 21
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 99.3%; rating input score 99
  • Program expense ratio: 83.9%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.27 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -18.3%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.71; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 37.5%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 22.2% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -3.7% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 99.3% of revenue deployed · 83.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $258K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $50K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 29/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 41/100.