The Next Step Public Charter School

“Relevant information is given to a 3rd party for 990 preparation and review. The completed document is then presented to the executive director who presents the 990 to the finance committee. Upon the finance committee's review, it is forwarded to the full board for their approval. After final approval, the 990 is filed with the irs.”

“During the annual orientation, all new board members are required to complete and sign a disclosure document. Each person shall complete a disclosure form each year and the policy is reviewed annually by each member of the board.”

“The executive directors compensation is determined and approved by the board of directors using written employment contracts, form 990's of other organizations and other appropriate information related to comparable positions of similar sized organizations. Salaries for teachers, counselors and instructional support staff are determined according to the approved salary scale. The principal, assistant principal and executive director have discretion to negotiate salaries with staff and the final salary for all staff will be stated in the annual offer letter. Annual raises are subject to budget constraints and board approval.”

“All governing documents, policies and financial statements are forwarded to the district of columbia public charter school board which provides oversight and distribution of relevant information to the public. The form 990 is made available upon request and is available on guidestar.org for public inspection.”

“Changes in fair value of interest rate swap -213,743.”

“On october 9, 2014, the charter school entered into an interest rate swap agreement with suntrust bank for a notional amount equal to the obligation under the loan payable whereby a portion of the floating rate was swapped into a fixed rate. Under the agreement, the charter school pays the bank interest at a fixed rate of 3.51% on the principal loan balance through the termination date of the swap agreement, which is october 1, 2021. The swap mechanism is intended to allow the school to realize the potential benefit of a lower fixed rate by reducing the impact of market changes in the variable interest rate. Interest expense related to the interest rate swap for the year ended june 30, 2015 was $90,516. At june 30, 2015, the fair value of the interest rate swap was $213,743 and has been reflected as a liability in the statements of financial position.”