Tucson Preparatory School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
860913009
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Tucson, AZ, USA
Phone
5206224185
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,189,357
Expenses
$1,498,745
Assets
$938,459
Liabilities
$304,032

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JoAnn D Sullivan (Executive Director)
  • MARK VONDESTINON (PRESIDENT/CHARTER REP)
  • JOSEPH J LECHUGA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOSEPH J LECHUGA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $73,885 total reported compensation
  • JoAnn D Sullivan (Executive Director): $35,336 total reported compensation
  • Efrain Romero (DIRECTOR): $9,830 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To offer homeless, chronically truant and otherwise troubled youth who have experienced academic/school failure with an individualized course of instruction that not only focuses upon academic corrections and remediation, but engenders self worth and prepares them educationally and socially for a productive future.

What it reported doing in 2024

To operate a charter school sponsored by the Arizona state board for charter schools, wich mandates policies and operational guidelines, to approximately 100 high school students in tucson, Arizona. To offer homeless, chronically truant and otherwise troubled youth who have experienced academic/school failure with an individualized course of instruction that not only focuses upon academic corrections and remediation, but engenders self worth and prepares them educationally and socially for a productive future.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 99% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 68
  • Sustainability: 20
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.8%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 72.9%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 80%; rating input score 80; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -26%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.63; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.32; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.9%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.4% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -5.8% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -7.2% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.8% of revenue deployed · 72.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $74K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 44/100.