The High Desert Partnership in Academic

“A draft of the return is emailed to each board member before filing and they are asked to review it. The board is presented annually with a copy of the audited financial statements.”

“The foundation operates charter schools in california, so it complies with the provisions of the california codes which affect all california public school agencies. As such, the conflict of interest code which was adopted by the board of directors in 2002 and amended in 2008, meets the requirements of the state of california government code 81000. The human resource department annually communicates with each director, officer, key employee and highly compensated employee that they must file the required form (form 700) within the stated time frame. If anyone that is required does not return the form to the hr department, they are reminded that compliance is mandatory. To date, all individuals that are required to file have done so. The hr department then files the forms that are required to be filed with the other agencies and makes available for public inspection those that meet the code requirements.”

“The compensation of the ceo is determined by the board of directors, all of whom are independent. The description of the ceo position is a matter of board policy #bp 2120. The employment of the ceo is governed by a contract and the significant terms of the contract are governed by board policy bp #2121. Annual evaluation of the ceo is required by board policy bp #2123. The ceo salary is determined by reference to a comparision with the published salary schedules of other local educational institutions. A record of the salary comparison was made contemporaneously. For all other employees, including key employees and highly compensated employees, the board has adopted a policy for personnel hiring practices which is set forth in board policy bp #2400 and an administrative rule entitled administration hiring practicies which governs the creation of new positions. The board also maintains a personnel committee consisting of board members, the ceo and the hr manager, which meets and advises the board on personnel policy matters. All salaries are negotiated among the staff cabinet, the hr manager, the ceo or the board directly, which ever is the most apporpriate in the circumstances.”

“The organization makes all documents and information subject to public inspection upon request at a reasonable time and under reasonable conditions. These documents include the form 1023 and forms 990 for all years.”

“The bylaws of the organization are available on its website, www.lewiscenter.org. The website also discloses the foundation board members, most current meeting agendas, and the minutes of the last board meeting. Also displayed are the charter petitions of the two charter schools.”

“Board policy #4270 is our anti fraud policy and reporting procedure. The procedure contains a section 'whistle-blower protection' that protects any employee from retribution if they acted in good faith in attempting to comply with the anti-fraud policy.”

“The organization has implemented the guidance of 'records retention manual' published by the california association of school business officials, as its record retention policy. Copies of the manual are available to management at the administrative offices of the organization.”

“The filing entity is organized and operated as a public charter school in the state of california. As a result, schedule e is not required to be filed.”