YES Prep Public Schools Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
760563835
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Houston, TX, USA
Phone
7139679000
Rating
89
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Secondary, High School

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$299,114,794
Expenses
$286,377,948
Assets
$514,471,294
Liabilities
$282,402,728

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

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Mark DiBella (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Mark DiBella (CEO): $527,613 total reported compensation
  • Luis Mena (CFO): $365,838 total reported compensation
  • Philip Wright (Chief of Schools): $354,624 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

YES Prep Public Schools, Inc. prepares low-income youth to enter a four-year college or university by implementing an innovative and rigorous academic program which also emphasizes community service.

What it reported doing in 2024

YES Prep served approximately 18,000 Houston area low-income students from pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade. YES Prep receives approximately 91% of its funding from state and federal agencies and the remainder is locally fundraised. The mission of YES Prep Public Schools is to empower all Houston students to succeed in college and to pursue lives of opportunity, and our College Initiatives programming is designed to ensure ALL YES Prep students have viable post-secondary options.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 91% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 92
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.4%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 94.3%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: $279.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.3%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.8; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.55; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.3%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.5% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90.4% of revenue deployed · 94.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $269.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $528K · 25 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $73.2M reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 18 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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.

  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.