Canyon Crest Academy Foundation: Integrity, Governance, and Transparency
In the spirit of educating our school community on how CCAF operates and addressing false statements made on a recent anonymous website/document, CCAF is providing the following information.
The Canyon Crest Academy Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2004. CCAF is governed by a Board of Directors composed of parent volunteers. Each board member volunteers their time with the united goal to support every student at CCA every day. The CCAF board invites all CCA students, parents, and donors to reach out to Board President Sandra Sincek at President@canyoncrestfoundation.org with any questions, concerns, or feedback. Detailed information about the Foundation can be found on the CCAF website.
The state funding allocated to Canyon Crest Academy is insufficient to provide the quality of education that our students deserve and our community expects. CCAF works to bridge that funding gap to support students with expansive enrichment programs and to enhance their classroom environment.
CCAF Finances
Financial reports: The anonymously authored document claims various improprieties related to the Foundation’s financials and financial reporting practices. These claims are not only untrue; they are incredibly irresponsible and harmful to the entire CCA community – the Foundation, its board and staff members, and CCA students and staff members.
In compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, an independent and professional yearly audit is conducted for all CCAF financial statements. The audited financial statements are always publicly available on the Foundation website. In accordance with best practices, the Board receives monthly financial packages for its review. In addition, CCAF board members provide monthly financialsto parent liaisons and coaches for each foundation-supported team or program.
Salary disclosure: The anonymously authored document claims that CCAF has “[failed] to report management salaries to the IRS.” This is false. The Foundation’s Form 990s – a Form 990 is the required tax filing for charities and nonprofits – are prepared by CCAF’s accounting firm and are publicly available by searching the IRS website and are also viewable at Propublica.
The roles and responsibilities of the individuals involved with CCAF is, and always has been, governed by the Foundation’s bylaws, which are posted on the website.
Other program expenses: As previously stated, the Foundation contracts with an independent accounting firm, which conducts an audit of the financials every fiscal year. The “Other Program Expenses” challenged in the anonymously authored document is, in fact, a line item in the financial statements; this line item contains “rolled up” expenses that are not otherwise allocated to a program that has its own line item in our financials.
For example, expenses under this line item have included such things as $349,000 toward improving CCA facilities. Such facilities improvements include the innovative furniture installed in more than 70 classrooms to date, new flooring, sound systems, renovations of the Cage and the Nest, and more. These are some of the “Big Ideas” CCA community members may have heard mentioned by Principal Brett Killeen. Those projects have resulted in much of the increase in the “Other Program Expenses” line item of our financials. Additionally, this line item has historically included funds expended on camps and clinics, including coaching stipends. Last fiscal year, those expenses totalled $128,000. As this line item amount changes every year, community members who want more detail are always welcome to contact us.
For those unfamiliar with financial reporting for nonprofit organizations, it is acceptable and standard practice to allocate any salaries of employees across the various activities or programs of the organization based on the percentage of time spent on those activities or programs. This helps ensure that no single program bears the brunt of those expenses.
Restrictive Giving and STEM, Athletics, and Arts Funds
In 2006, the Foundation adopted a policy allowing the designation of donations directly to a program of the donor’s choice within one of the three designated-donation themes – Athletics, Envision, or STEM. These “restricted” donations can be used only for the designated program. For each designated, or restricted, donation, 75% is allotted to the specific team, club, or program, and the remaining 25% goes into a general fund for that theme. Contrary to the claim in the anonymously authored document, this 75-25 structure is clearly disclosed by the Foundation in numerous formats, including team meetings held every semester and in the yearly calendar sent to every family at the beginning of each school year.
This 75-25 structure of designated donations works like this: If a family wants to donate $100 to Girls Volleyball, $75 goes to Girls Volleyball and $25 goes to the Athletics general fund. This $25 then can be used in such a way that benefits all athletics programs, such as for equipment or facilities that can be used by more than one team. For example, the money in the Athletics general fund can be used to fund a softball facilities upgrade and installation, which would be too expensive for one team to fund. This structure provides equity among programs – no single Athletics program or team should be responsible for the whole cost of significant, burdensome expenses.
Perhaps more importantly, the 75-25 structure provides flexibility, allowing the Foundation to support programs that have a sudden or unexpected expense, such as a team qualifying for championships that require travel or a science equipment failure.
Canyon Crest Academy’s core values include collaboration, compassion, and empathy. The Foundation’s 75-25 designated-donation structure encourages and supports those values.
The CCA community is generous. Many families appreciate this ability to designate their donations to the program of their choice. However, the largest percentage of donations is to the General Ravens Fund, which is unrestricted. These funds are used in support of school priority Big Ideas. Many of these projects are underway right now.
Executive Director
The Foundation announced on June 5, 2024, that the Executive Director would not be returning to the organization. The announcement was included in the Foundation newsletter:
“As our academic year draws to a close, we want to share the news of Joanne Couvrette’s departure from her position as the Executive Director of the CCA Foundation. We hope you will join us in thanking Joanne for her many years of service to the CCA community and wishing her all the best moving forward.”
In accordance with California law, CCAF is obligated to protect the privacy of its past, present, and future employees.
CCAF Board Participation
Parent representation: Parents join CCAF by first volunteering on at least one committee, then filling out an application, including references. A board vote held in the spring elects the new board slate, and directors serve for 2-year terms. CCAF hosts a back-to-school coffee at the beginning of every year, with volunteer information and sign up sheets. Parents can also connect with the board at free parent happy hours, sponsored by CCAF.
Student representation: CCAF welcomes student engagement, and seeks it out whenever possible, since supporting student programming is the purpose behind the CCAF and the reason our parent volunteers donate their time to being on the Board. The CCAF By-laws state that the school may appoint up to two student representatives to the Board who will serve as the student liaisons. The appointment of student representatives is permitted but is not required. In the past CCAF had student representatives; however, the students felt it difficult to serve as student liaisons due to the hardship of missing class to attend meetings. Consistent with our By-laws, we welcome adding student representatives again to the CCAF in collaboration with school leadership.
Our Impact on Student Programming at CCA
One of the most concerning aspects of the document and website is the direct negative impact that will be felt by the students of CCA. Loss of community trust and a decline in donations will have an immediate impact on many student programs this year.
In addition to direct fundraising, CCAF also helps coaches, teams, clubs and programs host camps and clinics. Not only are these a critical source of funding, they also provide students with leadership opportunities and are often the first introduction to younger students in the community to CCA, supporting enrollment as CCA is a school of choice. Without CCAF providing the necessary support services, these camps and clinics would likely no longer be a source of income for programs. The financial impact on student programs would be immense. Many teams receive a large majority of their funding from these camps, up to 88% for some teams.
CCAF board members volunteer their time because they believe in supporting every student at CCA, and are committed to funding opportunities and experiences that help our students excel academically, physically, and emotionally. The board wishes the anonymous author(s) of the document and website would have come to CCAF directly with their concerns. CCAF board members continue to have a willingness to work with the authors on understanding how CCAF works, and how CCAF is in full compliance with all laws and district policies. CCAF is always willing to hear community feedback, and to focus on any improvements we can make to our processes.
There is an opportunity to learn and grow, but growth will only be possible with accountability, a recognition of the harm caused by the document and website, and a desire to move forward constructively in service of the CCA community with truth and integrity.