Science Academies of New York Charter Schools

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
043739991
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Syracuse, NY, USA
Phone
3154288997
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$52,907,744
Expenses
$45,487,255
Assets
$71,198,999
Liabilities
$11,660,889

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Fehmi Damkaci (Chair/Board President (ending May 2025))
  • Jawwaad Rasheed (Vice President)
  • Halil Zaim (Chair/Board President (starting May 2025))

Highest reported compensation

  • Tolga Hayali (Superintendent): $290,487 total reported compensation
  • Yusuf Aykar (Assistant Superintendent): $240,697 total reported compensation
  • Bekir Duz (Assistant Superintendent): $232,639 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

See Schedule OScience Academies of New York Charter Schools will provide support, challenges and opportunities for its students, and it will instill the necessary skills and knowledge in math, science, and technology to empower students, through high intellectual standards, preparing them for college, career, and citizenship. The schools seek to graduate students who can think critically and creatively, who are committed to a lifetime of learning and civic involvement, and who are conscious of local, global, and environmental issues.

What it reported doing in 2024

FOOD SERVICE: The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 main goal is to improve child nutrition. The Science Academies of New York Charter Schools (The Schools) participate in the National School Lunch Program to provide our students grades K-12 healthy options for breakfast and lunch. This program is offered to all students to promote wellness, prevent and reduce childhood obesity, and encourage students to make healthy choices. Eating nutritious meals daily will help students improve academically and also improve children's lifelong eating and physical activity habits. Participating in the National School Lunch Program also provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to every student each school day. The Schools' goal is to ensure all students including low-income households receive the same nutritional value regardless of their financial situation.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 88% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 69
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.7%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 82.8%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 77th 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: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 14%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.57; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.4%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.2% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.4% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20.9% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.7% of revenue deployed · 82.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $37.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $290K · 14 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 47/100.