The New Interdisciplinary School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
112428403
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Manorville, NY, USA
Phone
6319245583
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$15,236,847
Expenses
$15,148,957
Assets
$10,722,986
Liabilities
$9,316,429

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

Leadership & pay

29 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • WALTER STOCKTON (CEO)
  • JAY SILVERSTEIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • KRISTEN MORAN (ASSOCIATE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • WALTER STOCKTON (CEO): $807,372 total reported compensation
  • MARY BETH LICHTNEGER (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $584,958 total reported compensation
  • JAY SILVERSTEIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $537,549 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Nis is a not-for profit school that was established in 1976 by a coalition of parents, community people and staff. The school was granted an absolute charter by the New York state regents to provide education and therapeutic services to children from birth to five years of age. Nis believes in the rights of all children to grow and learn in a supportive environment, and the rights of parents to have a real voice in their children's education. Nis is willing to try new approaches that are compatible with our child-centered philosophy. We strongly believe each child, regardless of disability, ethnic background or socioeconomic status has the right to develop to his/her fullest potential.

What it reported doing in 2024

Nis offers a range of therapeutic and educational programs for both typically developing and developmentally delayed children from birth to five years old. Nis operates both a nursery school for preschool children from birth to three years of age and a childcare center. Universal pre-k participating school districts offer eligible 4-year olds the opportunity to attend our pre-k program utilizing the creative curriculum, which follows developmentally appropriate practices and is aligned with nys learning standards. Classes focus on meeting kindergarten readiness goals in an environment promoting exploration, social skill development and confidence building through positive learning experiences. Children are placed in both integrated and non-integrated classes with nys certified teachers. Sessions are monday thru friday and follow the school calendar. Nursery/preschool a stimulating early childhood program for children ages 3 and 4 following the creative curriculum. Children are offered small group exploration time in learning centers as well as whole group instruction led by nys certified teachers. Classes follow an integrated model allowing both typically developing and diverse needs children the opportunity to learn with and from each other. Students in our integrated classes are team taught by a special educator, an early childhood teacher, and are assisted by a paraprofessional. In addition, the school provides a wealth of therapeutic services to both parents and students, including occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, psychological counseling and nursing services. Nis also provides a center-based program under nys - suffolk county early intervention program. For more information about various parent programs, enrichment programs, childcare and special education courses provided by nis, please visit www.niskids.org.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 94% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 85
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.1%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 87.2%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 90%; rating input score 90; 22nd 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: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.6%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.71; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.87; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.6%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.1% of revenue deployed · 87.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 20 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $13.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $807K · 29 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 22 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 36/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 25/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.