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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Classical Academy Charter School

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 223568322
NJ · NTEE B20
FY ending 2023-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Bernadette Pinto, Executive Director / CEO ($132,839) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 325 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 69th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Bernadette Pinto — reported title “SBA/BOARD SE”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

325 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 325 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$1,440 total compensation of comparable organizations → $515,405 $132,839
$40,11210th
$79,83525th
$109,875Median
$144,43775th
$181,73590th
$132,839This org · 69th
p10$40,112
p25$79,835
p50$109,875
p75$144,437
p90$181,735
$132,839

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
The Sparhawk Foundation Inc MA$3,032,910 Head Of School $226,564 $215,778 2025
The Learning Center At Piper's Hill Inc CT$3,034,258 Executive Director $105,221 $110,497 2023
Mountain View Montessori UT$3,029,261 Director (Thru 4/24) $107,535 $119,733 2024
The Nest School CA$3,036,816 President & Director $156,923 $147,412 2024
Stone Bridge School CA$3,025,008 Vp/class Rep $26,513 $25,642 2023
🔒 320 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 2023 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 default69th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)72nd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted74th
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:

Ready-to-adopt board minutes — executive compensation

🔒 The complete minutes language — three numbered resolutions pre-filled with this organization, the 325-organization comparison, the date, and the percentile finding, ready to paste into your minutes — is included in the purchased report.

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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.