The High Desert Partnership in Academic Excellence Foundation Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 330542733
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Apple Valley, CA, USA
- Phone
- 7609465414
- Rating
- 73
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $45,342,694
- Expenses
- $47,839,588
- Assets
- $141,406,223
- Liabilities
- $58,420,295
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
20 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- LISA LAMB (President & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- LISA LAMB (President & CEO): $301,033 total reported compensation
- DAVID GRUBER (CBO): $235,301 total reported compensation
- STACY NEWMAN (DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES): $233,972 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The high desert partnership in academic excellence foundation, inc., in partnership with businesses, foundations, educators, parents, students, and others, promotes and supports the educational needs of the students, teachers and community members. The volunteer board of directors oversees the activities of the foundation and receives and utilizes funds acquired through solicitation for the purposes for which the corporation was formed. The mission of the lewis center for educational research is to ensure that the schools and programs operated by the corporation prepare students for success in a global society through data-driven innovative and research-proven practices. Academy for academic excellence exists to prepare students for post-secondary success through a relevant, rigorous college preparatory education. Norton science and language academy exists to ensure learning for a diverse population of students within a safe and rigorous bilingual education environment.
What it reported doing in 2024
The organization operates a tk-12 public charter school, academy for academic excellence. The school provided instruction for approximately 1,433 tk-12 students. The school is modeled on the principal that children learn better when they have the opportunity to be actively engaged along with the teacher in the education process. The school has entered into partnerships with businesses, colleges, local government agencies and the federal government, specifically nasa and the department of defense. Through these partnerships the students have unique opportunities for hands on learning. One example is our partnership with nasa-ames. When nasa performed their juno project to orbit jupiter, our students and students in south america, through lewis centers mission control, were able to participate in the tracking of spacecraft via the internet. They operated the deep space radio telescope dss-13 located at the goldstone deep space network in the mojave desert. Such programs are once in a life time opportunities for the students to perform real science in real time. There are many other examples of this hands-on instructional model.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 98% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- 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
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 65
- Transparency & Controls: 79
- Accountability: 83
- Sustainability: 39
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 62.4%; rating input score 62
- Program expense ratio: 58.8%; rating input score 59
- Fundraising efficiency: $163,997.85 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- 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: 77.8%; rating input score 78; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- 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: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -5.5%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.96; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.41; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.6%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 16.8% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 62.4% of revenue deployed · 58.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $28.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $301K · 20 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 13 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 59/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 46/100.