The Free School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237112492
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2019
Forms available
Form 990 2019, Form 990-EZ 2014
Location
Albany, NY, USA
Phone
5184343072
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$609,394
Expenses
$230,291
Assets
$661,642
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2019. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAN YACOBELLIS (President)
  • JOSALYNN SMITH (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • FERN REES (Director)
  • KATHY MANLEY (Director)
  • DEIRDRE KELLY (Executive Dir.)

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 2019. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The free school is a private school that educates children from pre k - 8th grade. It is located in the inner city of albany and endeavours to provide a quality education to the youth.

What it reported doing in 2019

The free school is a private school that educates children from pre k- 8th grade. It is located in the inner city of albany and endeavours to provide a quality education to the youth.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 89% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 49
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 88
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 34.1%; rating input score 34
  • Program expense ratio: 90%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 62.2%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.87; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 23.7% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 41.1% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 34.1% of revenue deployed · 90% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $207K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2015 to 2019
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 34/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.