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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Harborlight Nursery School Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 042883700
MA · NTEE B21Z
FY ending 2024-08-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Billie Jean Chouinard, Executive Director / CEO ($73,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 18 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 67th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Billie Jean Chouinard — reported title “EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

18 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 18 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$24,576 total compensation of comparable organizations → $123,425 $73,000
$46,14410th
$48,34925th
$65,873Median
$78,57175th
$108,66290th
$73,000This org · 67th
p10$46,144
p25$48,349
p50$65,873
p75$78,571
p90$108,662
$73,000

Comparable organizations

Each figure is Form 990 Part VII columns D + F (reportable pay plus other compensation and benefits; column F may include amounts from related organizations), normalized to MA cost of living (BEA RPP, 2023) and to its filing year (CPI-U); the reported amount is on each linked 990.

OrganizationStateRevenueMatched titleComp
(reported)
Comp
(adjusted)
FY
Community Nursery School Of Wayland MA$350,992 Registrar $44,998 $43,838 2025
Massachusetts Head Start Association Inc MA$353,945 Executive Director $112,997 $112,997 2024
Hancock Nursery School Inc MA$372,688 Executive Di $57,753 $56,264 2025
Community Farm School Inc MA$327,842 Clerk $24,576 $24,576 2024
Wilbraham Community Preschool MA$380,140 President $65,958 $65,958 2024
Fieldstone Early Learning MA$382,370 President $70,012 $68,207 2025
Parents Of Rockhill Inc MA$384,487 Vice Princip $46,939 $48,325 2023
Ashmont Nursery School Inc MA$306,025 Executive Di $70,430 $70,430 2024
Norwood Christian Preschool Inc MA$304,996 President $49,701 $48,420 2025
Garden Nursery School Inc MA$294,045 Director $77,142 $79,421 2023
South Walpole Community Preschool Inc MA$409,703 Executive Dir. $47,350 $48,749 2023
Carter Nursery School Inc MA$258,376 School Director $63,900 $65,787 2023
Sheldonville Community Center Inc MA$248,086 Exec Director $47,132 $47,132 2024
Family Cooperative Preschool Inc MA$243,159 School Direc $47,507 $47,507 2024
Acton Cooperative School Inc MA$472,687 Director $73,841 $76,022 2023
The Boston Children's School Inc MA$483,622 President, Treasurer, Dir $123,425 $123,425 2024
Zinnia Montessori School Inc MA$496,936 President $109,630 $106,804 2025
Neighborhood Cooperative Nursery School MA$511,308 Executive Director $83,393 $81,243 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MA cost of living and 2024 dollars. Click any organization to verify the figure on ProPublica.

Methodology

Comparable organizations were drawn from electronically filed IRS Form 990 returns and matched on sector (NTEE code), budget (a size-adaptive revenue band that tightens as the organization grows), and geography (same-state first, broadening only when too few peers qualify); every organization within the band forms the peer set. To compare fairly across regions and years, peer compensation is normalized to MA cost of living (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2023) and to the subject's filing year (CPI-U). The figure benchmarked is Form 990 Part VII, Section A, columns D + F — reportable pay plus other compensation, benefits, and deferred amounts (column F may include amounts from related organizations) — with the chief executive matched by role. Related-organization amounts (column E) and institutional trustees are excluded. Full methodology: peerbasis.org/methodology.

Sample, role match & sensitivity

Sensitivity — the subject's percentile under alternative compensation definitions:

BasisSubject percentile
Total compensation (D + F), cost-of-living + inflation adjusted — the PeerBasis default67th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)67th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted72nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted67th

If the percentile moves materially across these definitions, the result is sensitive to methodology choices, and the board should weigh which basis best fits its facts.

Rebuttable presumption of reasonableness · 26 CFR 53.4958-6

Compensation paid by a tax-exempt organization is presumed reasonable — shifting the burden to the IRS — when three requirements are met. This report supplies the comparability data for the second. The board should record the following in its minutes concurrently with its decision:

Draft board minutes — executive compensation

  1. The compensation of the Executive Director / CEO (Billie Jean Chouinard) was approved in advance by [the Board / Compensation Committee], composed of members with no conflict of interest with respect to the arrangement.
  2. Prior to its determination, the authorized body obtained and relied upon appropriate comparability data, namely the PeerBasis Compensation Comparability Determination dated June 9, 2026, comparing compensation against 18 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B21) + MA + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $73,000 is reasonable (approximately the 67th percentile of comparable organizations) and documented the basis for this determination concurrently, on [date], by a vote of [__ for / __ against].

Sources: IRS Form 990 e-file data (apps.irs.gov); IRS Business Master File (NTEE classification). Every figure traces to an original public filing — click any organization above to verify it on ProPublica. PeerBasis is a service of Prismind Analytics; its methodology is published, was commissioned for independent adversarial review, and discloses its own limitations. This report is comparability data to support a board's good-faith determination under IRC 4958; it is not legal or tax advice. Generated by PeerBasis on June 9, 2026.