Real School Gardens

“Review of form 990: the form 990 is initially reviewed by the director of finance and the chief executive officer. The document is refined then distributed to the full board of directors for review and comment. The form 990 is then finalized and submitted to the internal revenue service.”

“Conflict of interest: all new employees are briefed about the conflict of interest policy as part of an orientation about standards of professional conduct for the organization. The conflict of interest policy is reviewed with all employees and the board of directors each fall. At this time, each director, officer, and employee is asked to acknowledge in writing their understanding of the policy. In addition, each director, officer and employee is asked to complete a disclosure form that identifies any relationships, positions, or circumstances that might represent a conflict of interest. The director of finance serves as the compliance officer for the organization, investigating any reported violations to the conflict of interest policy. Findings are presented to the board of directors, including the chief executive officer, and appropriate corrective actions are determined. Possible corrective actions include formally ending external relationships that present a conflict of interest or voluntarily exiting from the board or company.”

“Compensation review: the board of directors, led by the board co-chairs, establishes compensation and benefits for the chief executive officer. A compensation survey or study is used during this process to determine a market range, as in benchmarking with select education non-profits. Compensation is finalized within the market rate range based on experience, earnings history, and results the selected candidate demonstrated in recent roles. The board of directors approves the compensation and benefits package for the chief executive officer. The chief executive officer and director of finance establishes compensation and benefits for other employees in the organization, based on market rate range, experience, earnings history, and results demonstrated by the candidate. The chief executive officer presents employee promotion and compensation recommendations to the board of directors for their input. Reviews are conducted by the board co-chair, julie neimat, and documented in the board's meeting minutes.”

“Availability of documents: the organization's governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements are made available to the public upon request. These documents are provided either electronically or via us mail, based on the preference of the requestor.”

“Organization's activities: real school gardens is a national nonprofit that trains teachers to use gardens as an instructional tool to increase student engagement and academic achievement. We also build and enhance learning gardens with teacher-friendly instructional features so the spaces function as outdoor classrooms. School partners report increases in student engagement, teacher effectiveness, and teacher job satisfaction, critical measures of long-term success in low-income schools. Over the last decade, real school gardens has partnered with more than 20 school districts to reach approx. 200 schools, 7,000 teachers, and 110,000 students in maryland, north carolina, texas, virginia, and washington d.c. Real school gardens is poised for expansion as part of our national growth plan. By 2020, we will be in 6 regions and 15 cities, reaching 285 new school partners. This expansion will propel the organization from serving 15 new school partners each year to serving more than 100 new partners each year, translating to nearly 10,000 new teachers trained and more than 155,000 additional students served every day. The organization passed several big milestones towards our national growth strategy this year, including: - partnering with 150th school to-date - establishing carolinas regional office in charlotte, north carolina - expanding the mid-atlantic region to baltimore, maryland - recruiting school partners to establish a southeast region in fy2018 form 990, part vi, section a, line 3 delegation of control over management duties: the daily management of the accounting and finances of real school gardens is performed by the staff of new leaf change management under the supervision of namrata maguire. Per irs guidance, no compensation is shown on the form 990, part vii for the calendar year for this individual: namrata maguire $ 49,800”

“Oversight committee: oversight is now done by a finance committee responsible for the oversight of the audit and selection of the independent accountant. This process has changed from the prior year.”