Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in May 1998.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
43 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
19 people listed on the 990; $642K paid to officers and key staff.
Sabrina Pence’s $217K as Chief Executive Officer is at the 43rd percentile of top reported officer pay among 3683 $10–100M education nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sabrina Pence | $217,028 | $199,078 | $191,394 | $164,832 | $136,118 |
| Jay Altman | — | — | — | — | $146,257 |
| Claudia Barker | — | $140,458 | $135,088 | $127,081 | $126,366 |
| Tom Shepley | — | $138,595 | — | $128,151 | — |
| Tom V Shepley | — | — | $136,001 | — | — |
| Rebekah Cain | $133,382 | $131,893 | — | — | — |
| Sivi Domango | $133,014 | $129,067 | $126,625 | — | — |
| Ava Lee | $129,077 | $125,557 | — | $112,461 | — |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Builds and inspires open-admissions public schools preparing New Orleans students for college and careers.
Questions for Firstline Schools INC
Your first name shows with your question. Firstline Schools INC answers here, for everyone.
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Operation of public chartered elementary, middle and high schools.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2020 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY20 | End FY20 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $1.4M | $12.1M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $809K | $600K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $6.9M | $15.7M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $5.2M | $8.5M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $1.7M | $7.3M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $21.7M | $12.8M | $8.8M | $127K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $4.8M | $2.8M | $2.0M | $18K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $270K | $270K | ||
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $207K | $207K | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $788K | $788K | ||
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $12.1M | $3.2M | $8.9M | $13K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $4.4M | $317K | $4.1M | $5K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $44.4M | $19.1M | $25.1M | $163K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $56.6M | $60.3M | −$3.7M | $39.7M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $55.9M | $51.2M | $4.7M | $43.2M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | Not on file | ||||
| FY2022 | $60.4M | $51.2M | $9.3M | $21.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $47.5M | $42.7M | $4.7M | $12.0M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 Viewing | $49.5M | $44.4M | $5.1M | $7.3M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2020 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $49,502,921 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 14 of 14 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $49,502,921 across 8 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $44,353,083 across 7 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $15,735,990 assets, 11 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $7,258,989 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2020 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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