Ad Astra School

“Jared j. Birchall, secretary & treasurer, is the managing director of the musk family office, which operates for the benefit of elon musk and his family.”

“The school's governing body consists of a board of directors who have the right to participate in the school's governance. All members of the board of directors have the same voting rights. The majority of the board of directors must vote on the removal of directors.”

“The form 990 was prepared by the school's accountant and reviewed by the president. At this time, the form 990 was reviewed in detail and approved for submission to the internal revenue service.”

“Each director, officer and member of a committee with board delegated powers shall sign a statement which affirms such person has no conflict of interest. To ensure that the corporation operates in a manner consistent with its charitable purposes and does not engage in activities that could jeopardize its tax exempt status, periodic reviews shall be conducted. The periodic reviews shall, at a minimum, include whether compensation arrangements and benefits are reasonable, based on competent survey information, and the result of arm's length bargaining. The reviews also include whether partnerships, joint ventures, and arrangements with management organizations conform to the corporation's written policies, are properly recorded, reflect reasonable investment or payments for goods and services, further charitable purposes and do not result in inurement, impermissible private benefit or in an excess benefit transaction.”

“The board of directors is responsible for staff development and compensation. The board conducts annual reviews of compensation and benefits, and compares compensation with data on compensation paid by comparable organizations. It is the school's policy to provide compensation that is above the median for comparable organizations, to more effectively attract and retain the highest quality employees. The members of the board of directors draw on their considerable business experience to appropriately evaluate and compensate key employees.”

“Ad astra school makes available to the public upon request the following governing documents: - internal revenue service tax determination letter - by laws - filed form 990 for the two most recent fiscal years”

“Elon musk is a director of the school and has been a substantial contributor to the school. Three of his children currently attend the school. To avoid any concerns about private benefit, inurement, and any appearance of untoward personal benefit, all contributions by mr. Musk are treated as follows: for the 2019-2020 school year, the school's full rate tuition is $30,000 per student. Contributions by mr. Musk up to the amount of the full rate tuition are treated as tuition payments for the benefit of his children that attend the school. These tuition payments are considered program service revenue to the school, and mr. Musk will not claim a charitable deduction on his personal income tax returns for the amount of such payments. Any contributions by mr. Musk that exceed the tuition for his children are considered charitable contributions that are deductible for income tax purposes. The school will prepare written substantiation for mr. Musk's contributions reduced by the full rate value of the school's tuition. During the year, mr. Musk paid $90,000 as current year tuition. Mr. Musk has been advised of the rules regarding private benefit and inurement. To the extent any other disqualified persons have students in the school, the board of directors will follow the same policy and procedure.”

“The school currently charges tuition. Tuition payments are based on financial need, and the school has engaged school and student services (sss) for the process to determine financial need. The school maintains adequate records and case histories as required under revenue ruling 56-304.”

“Attachment 1 ad astra is a school dedicated to the learning of high-achieving students in the greater los angeles area. The school serves students between the ages of 8-14, providing a singularly exceptional education experience. The main objective is to exceed traditional school metrics on all relevant subject matter through unique project-based learning experiences.”

“Attachment 2 the school operates ad astra school in hawthorne, california, an independent elementary and middle school committed to educating highly gifted elementary and middle school students. The school serves qualified students by creating a world-class critical thinking curriculum, with a heavy emphasis on science, math, engineering, and ethics. The school's innovative approach emphasizes ability over age. Mixed-age student groups work together to deeply understand difficult questions and challenges to develop their potential. Educational content is project based, with the intent to create meaningful work for all students. The goal of the school is to develop remarkable people imbued with a strong sense of justice, who are equipped with the critical thinking skills necessary to make a difference. The content that enlivens each course is created anew each year for each group of students. The size of the student body is expected to grow slowly and, because of the intense staff to student ratio, will probably not exceed 60 students. The school is open to all high-performing students, and the school is open to all applicants. Less than half of the current student base is composed of children of spacex employees or are related to a spacex employee. The student base has broadened over the prior year's composition of the student base.”

“The organization did not change its oversight process and selection process during the tax year.”