Live preview — download the board-ready PDF to attach to your minutes.Download the free PDF
Email yourself a copy:
PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Sapphire Early Learning Center

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 851223587
MT · NTEE B20
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 10, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Cheryl Kushner, Executive Director / CEO ($46,878) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 286 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 51st percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Cheryl Kushner — 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

286 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 286 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$146 total compensation of comparable organizations → $162,515 $46,878
$9,20910th
$28,50125th
$46,577Median
$69,36075th
$85,69990th
$46,878This org · 51st
p10$9,209
p25$28,501
p50$46,577
p75$69,360
p90$85,699
$46,878

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 MT 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
Nevada R-5 School District Public MO$496,775 Executive Di $8,780 $8,627 2024
Tyger River Childrens Center Inc SC$499,127 Director $58,307 $58,097 2023
Mr Dad Fathers Club IL$495,372 President & $40,000 $36,481 2024
Whispering Pines Christian School CA$501,439 Secretary $9,000 $7,423 2023
Mental Fitness 21st Century Learning Inc GA$494,115 Exective Director $48,850 $46,912 2023
Chesterton Academy Of St Philip Neri MO$502,211 Executive Director $69,430 $68,220 2024
New Mexico Society Of Cpas NM$493,310 President $99,318 $99,098 2024
Next Generation Academics Inc FL$493,292 Director $34,878 $31,294 2023
Hopi School Inc AZ$492,215 Facilitator $55,000 $49,070 2024
Sunrise Montessori School Inc MA$492,126 Head Of Scho $80,120 $68,765 2023
Covenant Grace Christian Academy Inc LA$491,799 Treasurer $32,000 $31,846 2025
Gateways Academy Inc MA$504,438 President $43,000 $34,923 2025
Nashoba Montessori School Inc MA$504,671 President $125,000 $104,205 2024
Classical Studies Institute Of Louisville Inc KY$505,330 Head Of School (Beg. 9.10.2022)non Voting Director $59,807 $61,370 2023
Urban Village Montessori Inc MA$489,946 President $91,069 $73,962 2025
Horizons Academy Of Maui Inc HI$506,211 Operations D $89,848 $74,625 2024
Peak Potential MT$506,266 Executive Director $34,000 $35,004 2023
Tall Oaks Academy Inc WI$506,978 Head Of School $62,333 $60,391 2024
Fort Dodge Community School District Foundation IA$487,946 Director $86,250 $90,198 2023
Life Academy Gj CO$507,696 President $37,800 $34,618 2023
Trinity Academy Inc TN$487,742 Head Of School $52,000 $49,400 2025
East Orchard Christian Academy Inc IL$487,462 Secretary/di $17,000 $15,105 2025
Spark Alc Inc FL$508,475 President $53,125 $46,298 2024
Faith Christian School And Institute PA$486,139 President $28,778 $27,410 2023
Waldessori Schoolhouse TX$484,528 Board President $13,573 $12,596 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MT 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 MT 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 default51st
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)47th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted49th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted50th

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 (Cheryl Kushner) 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 10, 2026, comparing compensation against 286 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B20), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $46,878 is reasonable (approximately the 51st 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 10, 2026.