Unity Charter School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
223493409
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Morristown, NJ, USA
Phone
9732921808
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,783,643
Expenses
$6,327,855
Assets
$1,811,666
Liabilities
$2,555,421

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BRIAN STANG (President)
  • CHARLENE BURRIS (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • CONNIE SANCHEZ (Executive Dir.): $168,600 total reported compensation
  • JENNIFER CARCICH (Director): $109,294 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 unity charter school (ucs) was chartered by the New Jersey department of education in january 1997 as the only charter school that had included a planning year prior to its opening. The charter school opened its doors to the first 60 students in grades k-7 in september, 1998, in accordance with its charter. Ucs maintained that enrollment level through the first school year. Ucs now operates a k-8 program, in which students thrive in a multi-age learning environment that stresses the importance of social and environmental responsibility. While encouraging each child to grow academically, ucs integrates parents and the community to participate in classroom support as well as the governance of the school.

What it reported doing in 2024

Unity charter school completed its twenty-fifth year of operation as a kindergarten through grade 8 public school of choice with the conclusion of the 2024-2025 school year. The charter school offers a full range of services, educational, nutritional and special needs, to all students grades k through 8. Ucs ended the 2024-2025 school year with an enrollment of 254 students.ucs holds weekly school meetings, incorporating peer mediation and class meetings in furtherance of its mission of collaborative teaching and governance. In further accordance with its mission, sustainability is taught through the investigation of the effects of human endeavor on our ecosystem, using learing activities such as field trips, class curriculum and individual research projects. The nj department of education granted ucs another renewal in the 2016-2017 school year for five (5)years, as the charter school continues to make significant strides in improving academic outcomes and providing a positive school environment for sustainability and growth for its scholars.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 94% 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.1%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 75%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 6.7%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.29; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.41; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.4%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.1% of revenue deployed · 75% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $169K · 14 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.