Cornerstone Schools

Legal name: Three Pillars an Educational Service Provider

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
270634528
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2020
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2020
Location
Detroit, MI, USA
Phone
(313) 873-2000
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$27,789,586
Expenses
$26,704,005
Assets
$4,279,920
Liabilities
$1,814,795

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CLARK DURANT (CHAIRMAN / CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)
  • ERNESTINE SAUNDERS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF EARL)
  • LAURA FREY GREATHOUSE (SENIOR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF CURRICULUM & EDUC)

Highest reported compensation

  • JAMES O'DONNELL (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $178,960 total reported compensation
  • KALYANI BHATT (SENIOR DIRECTOR OF COMPLIA): $173,855 total reported compensation
  • ERNESTINE SAUNDERS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF EARL): $173,725 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide a comprehensive educational experience that includes academic instruction, career development, and character development.

What it reported doing in 2020

Cornerstone education group provided comprehensive operational services to charter schools operating in the metro detroit area. Cornerstone's activities allow these charter schools to maximize their effectiveness in providing a quality education to all students at the lowest possible cost. Cornerstone education group specializes in creative educational programming that focuses on the concept that learning comes from passion. This process is constantly evolving to mirror educational, individual, and societal shifts, providing a high-tech, engaging learning experience designed to help children on all levels. Cornerstone supplies every program and service necessary to ensure student success, including specialized instruction in the areas of character and community service education. At cornerstone, we are motivated by a desire to see students thrive and fulfill their unique potential. We also serve as the employer for the charter schools' staff, which provides a mechanism for the schools to generate employee benefit programs in a cost effective manner.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 97% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 27
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 83.2%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.9%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.16; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.42; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.3%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.5% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 80% of revenue deployed · 83.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $22.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $179K · 17 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $681K reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2012 to 2020
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 11 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.

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

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 36/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.