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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Highland Montessori School

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 461734028
TX · NTEE B20
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Richard Weller, Executive Director / CEO ($76,879) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 15 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 93rd percentile of comparable organizationsabove the 90th percentile — board review recommended

Benchmarked executive: Richard Weller — reported title “Executive Director and Property Owner”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

15 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 15 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$7,570 total compensation of comparable organizations → $104,775 $76,879
$10,83210th
$15,70025th
$26,864Median
$43,04375th
$48,92390th
$76,879This org · 93rd
p10$10,832
p25$15,700
p50$26,864
p75$43,043
p90$48,923
$76,879

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 TX 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
Christian Cottage Prep TX$239,363 Head Of School $42,600 $43,727 2024
Potters Hand Christian School TX$233,592 Administrator $9,433 $9,969 2023
Veritas Montessori Academy TX$259,856 Director $15,500 $15,910 2024
Noggin Educational Foundation TX$221,391 President $50,000 $51,323 2024
Central Texas Education Center TX$264,163 President $41,266 $42,358 2024
Deep Waters Academy TX$265,042 President $15,490 $15,490 2025
Scholaris Academy Inc TX$212,934 President $19,878 $21,007 2023
The Little Montessori School TX$206,702 Director $38,305 $39,318 2024
Austin Japanese School Inc TX$290,647 Administration $7,570 $7,570 2025
Clearview Sudbury School TX$184,001 President $11,475 $12,127 2023
Saint Francis Montessori Christian TX$301,529 Director $39,900 $40,956 2024
Michelle Davis TX$320,000 Ceo $25,421 $26,864 2023
Nci Community Fund Inc TX$329,491 President $16,924 $17,885 2023
Journey School Of Houston TX$350,685 Clinical Director Vice Chair $44,155 $45,323 2024
King's Academy TX$360,086 Head Of School $99,146 $104,775 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to TX cost of living and 2025 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 TX 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 default93rd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)93rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted93rd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted87th

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 (Richard Weller) 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 15 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B20) + TX + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $76,879 is reasonable (approximately the 93rd 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.