The Fessenden School

“The board of trustees receives an electronic copy of the form 990, 990-t and any other related and required filings, as filed, before the filing deadline. Before filing, members of management review the returns for accuracy and completeness. At a later date after the filing of the returns, the school's audit committee along with members of school's management review the returns along with the results of the audit. The results of the year-end audit, review of the form 990, and any findings, changes or areas of concern are communicated to the board at the first board meeting of the fiscal year so appropriate corrective action, if any, can be taken.”

“The conflict of interest policy is distributed annually to the board of trustees at the first meeting and to employees via the employee handbook each year. The board of trustee members are asked to sign a disclosure statement indicating yes or no to any conflicts. Results are reviewed in accordance with the policy. Employees are asked to sign a form indicating receipt of the employee handbook and the enclosed conflict of interest policy. Results are reviewed in accordance with the policy. Returned forms are accounted for, and any missing forms are pursued with the best reasonable efforts to collect them.”

“The organization issues contracts containing the details of the compensation package for all new officers, top management and key employees. The initial process for hiring officers, top management and key employees usually involves an independent search committee and consultants who identify candidates based upon the required skills, experience, etc... Set forth by the organization. The pool of candidates will then be interviewed by a committee of board members and other top management. During this process, the consultants, board and top management also determine the compensation based upon the level of position, experience of candidate, the marketplace, demographics and comparing data with similar organizations and positions. The years following the hire of an officer, top management or key employee involve a review process that includes an evaluation. Unless there are significant changes to the original duties assigned for the position or other factors that may warrant a change in compensation, increases are in the range voted by the board for all employees of the organization. The process of determining compensation for the headmaster (ceo) is more in depth. In april, during the third board meeting of the fiscal year, a headmaster evaluation survey is distributed to the board of trustees. All trustees complete the survey questions. The president of the board receives the results and forms a sub-committe of the board made up of individuals of the board, who review the results. Discussions take place about the results, expectations, new goals, etc... And are then discussed with the headmaster. The compensation is then established and set for the next fiscal year.”

“The organization makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy, form 990, and financial statements available to the public upon request for the same period of disclosure as set forth in section 6104(d). All documents are available to be viewed on-site as well. In addition, the form 990 is available via guidestar and the massachusetts attorney general's website.”

“Unrealized gain on interest rate swap 17,839.”