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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Roots Forest School Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 823932159
ID · NTEE B21
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Jennet Gray, Executive Director / CEO ($18,019) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 270 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 13th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Jennet Gray — reported title “Director”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

270 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 270 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$533 total compensation of comparable organizations → $141,049 $18,019
$15,29910th
$30,86325th
$41,774Median
$54,34975th
$66,97790th
$18,019This org · 13th
p10$15,299
p25$30,863
p50$41,774
p75$54,349
p90$66,977
$18,019

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 ID 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
My First School NY$293,033 Director $60,000 $52,472 2023
Greenbelt Nursery School Inc MD$293,981 Teacherdirector $67,914 $58,147 2025
Garden Nursery School Inc MA$294,045 Director $77,142 $67,089 2023
Quarry Hill School Inc VT$294,066 Director $47,047 $45,830 2023
Key West Preschool Co-operative Inc FL$294,788 Director $49,193 $43,442 2024
Circle Time Child Development Center Inc CA$291,893 Ceo/director $12,291 $10,272 2023
Escuela Comunitaria Del Bronxbronx NY$295,088 Head Of School $158,880 $134,959 2024
Eastern Shore Montessori School AL$291,553 Board Presid $2,000 $2,091 2023
Dayton Montessori Society Inc OH$291,552 Board Member $34,000 $34,851 2023
Valley Preschool MN$291,374 Director $57,402 $51,944 2025
Attala Corporate Child Development Center Consortium MS$291,028 Director, Administrator $43,766 $44,640 2025
Growing Patch Childcare Learning IN$290,741 President $46,523 $46,119 2024
Angel Hearts Childcare Ministry 2 Inc IN$296,133 Director $16,500 $16,840 2023
Maywood Cooperative Nursery School Inc NJ$290,080 Treasurer Director $62,039 $52,069 2024
Natural Bridges HI$288,879 President $127,200 $104,294 2025
Aauw Nursery School IL$298,990 Executive Director $41,874 $38,699 2024
Discovering Mind Foundation UT$287,636 President $41,422 $38,825 2025
Albuquerque Preschool Cooperative NM$299,544 Executive Di $58,614 $59,262 2024
Childrenz Center IL$299,624 President $41,100 $39,105 2023
Spring Hill School Inc VT$287,189 Program Director $60,499 $58,933 2023
Lithuanian Montessori Society Of America IL$300,032 Director $62,000 $58,990 2023
Oregon Preschool Inc WI$286,714 Co-director/teacher $60,811 $59,701 2024
Centralia Marys House Ltd IL$301,079 Director & President $560 $533 2023
El Buen Pastor Early Childhood Development Center TX$301,143 Executive Director $43,890 $42,490 2023
Shining Mountains Montessori School CO$301,669 Executive Di $6,288 $5,836 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to ID 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 ID 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 default13th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)12th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted14th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted13th

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 (Jennet Gray) 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 270 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B21), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $18,019 is reasonable (approximately the 13th 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.