Whidbey Island Waldorf School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
911305954
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Clinton, WA, USA
Phone
3603415686
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,370,345
Expenses
$2,498,784
Assets
$1,024,839
Liabilities
$325,430

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GUILLERMO GONZALEZ (PRESIDENT)
  • SARAH BYSTROM (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MELISA HALL (FACULTY REPRESENTATIVE (UNTIL 03/25)): $68,048 total reported compensation
  • VANESSA ROCHON-TIERNEY (FACULTY REPRESENTATIVE (UNTIL 04/25)): $67,097 total reported compensation
  • ABIGAIL HUNDLEY (FACULTY REPRESENTATIVE): $63,537 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to provide a waldorf education for children from preschool through grade 8, which nurtures and cultivates each student to develop their capacity to learn, grow, serve, and become a full and active member of the community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Whidbey island waldorf school provides educational programs for children as an approved private school in the state of Washington. The programs consist of a parent-child program for the very young, several mixed-age kindergartens and grades 1-8. These programs are offered based on waldorf educational principles as defined by the waldorf early childhood association of north america and association of waldorf schools of north america. In the grades, in addition to developmentally appropriate "main lessons", the school also offers spanish, handwork, and movement and games.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 96% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 81% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 67
  • Sustainability: 20
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.6%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 83.5%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 62.5%; rating input score 62; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -5.4%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.41; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.32; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.9%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18.7% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 18.8% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.6% of revenue deployed · 83.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 8 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $68K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 21/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.