Live preview — download the board-ready PDF to attach to your minutes.Download PDF — $49
PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

The Calais School

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 221903027
NJ · NTEE B28Z
FY ending 2024-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of John Cohrs, Executive Director / CEO ($248,201) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 99 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 72nd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

99 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 99 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$13,238 total compensation of comparable organizations → $677,304 $248,201
$120,79210th
$155,27225th
$193,121Median
$258,74575th
$342,37990th
$248,201This org · 72nd
p10$120,792
p25$155,272
p50$193,121
p75$258,745
p90$342,379
$248,201

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 NJ 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
Gillen Brewer School NY$8,842,931 Head Of School $440,026 $458,496 2023
The Grande Innovation Academy AZ$8,872,979 President/ce $114,445 $123,275 2024
The Keswell School NY$8,759,889 Executive Director $276,062 $279,397 2024
The Clarke School For The Deaf MA$9,062,461 Ceo (End 11/4/22); Trustee $283,905 $294,182 2023
Pace School PA$9,067,283 Ceo (Thru June 2024) $245,333 $266,955 2025
🔒 94 more comparable organizations — included in the purchased report

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NJ 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 NJ 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 default72nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)77th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted59th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted69th

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:

Ready-to-adopt board minutes — executive compensation

🔒 The complete minutes language — three numbered resolutions pre-filled with this organization, the 99-organization comparison, the date, and the percentile finding, ready to paste into your minutes — is included in the purchased report.

Unlock the board report — $49

Running reports for this organization all year? Annual Org Pass — $99/yr.

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.