Stargate Charter School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
841576891
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Thornton, CO, USA
Phone
3034503936
Rating
56
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$29,769,164
Expenses
$22,599,348
Assets
$30,122,092
Liabilities
$28,305,849

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Lindsey Paquette (President)
  • Lumaker Challa (Vice President)
  • Robin Greene (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Robin Greene (Executive Director): $164,504 total reported compensation
  • Robert Cable (HS Principal): $145,912 total reported compensation
  • Patrick Millmore (HS Principal): $138,111 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 O. Provide differentiated education to gifted and talented students in Adams County, Colorado in order to challenge each student's academic abilities, support their unique emotional needs, promote individual character development and encourage a lifelong love of learning.

What it reported doing in 2024

Provide differentiated education to gifted and talented students in Adams County, Colorado benefiting 1,572 students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 73% 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

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 40
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 59
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 40.2%; rating input score 40
  • Program expense ratio: 53.9%; rating input score 54
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 28.6%; rating input score 29; 7th 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: 24.1%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.33; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.94; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.1%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 40.2% of revenue deployed · 53.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 7 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $12.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $165K · 17 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 40/100.
  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 29/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 54/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 47/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 50/100.