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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Highlands Pre Schools Assoc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 916007727
WA · NTEE B21Z
FY ending 2023-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Karen Beckman Householder, Executive Director / CEO ($58,945) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 194 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 73rd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Karen Beckman Householder — reported title “Administrator and Treasurer”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

194 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 194 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$615 total compensation of comparable organizations → $155,756 $58,945
$13,16010th
$32,42025th
$46,073Median
$60,19275th
$73,43390th
$58,945This org · 73rd
p10$13,160
p25$32,420
p50$46,073
p75$60,192
p90$73,433
$58,945

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 WA 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
Spring Knolls Cooperative Nursery School MD$226,329 Executive Dir. $47,410 $49,507 2023
Community Partnership For Children NM$226,587 Executive Director $86,999 $104,514 2023
Child's Play Inc RI$225,881 Toddler/nursery $48,043 $49,978 2024
International Education And CA$225,492 Director $25,668 $24,756 2023
Elizabeth Seton Montessori School PA$227,851 President $75,932 $82,151 2024
Silver Spring Nursery School Inc MD$228,188 Executive Director Till 630 $34,802 $36,341 2023
The Learning Tree Nursery Inc NY$224,210 Co Director $5,460 $5,215 2025
La Escuelita NC$230,144 Founding Director $11,500 $12,891 2024
Crayon Corner Learning Center Inc IA$230,274 Director $44,009 $50,931 2025
Eliot Chapel Nursery School MO$222,114 Exec Directo $50,009 $57,463 2024
Easter Preschool MN$221,830 Program Director $49,885 $52,098 2025
Plymouth Nursery School IA$230,926 Director $35,910 $42,657 2024
Scuola Italiana Di Portland OR$221,028 Board Member $2,592 $2,612 2024
Izabel Inc IL$220,388 President $23,190 $24,734 2024
Hope Ridge Preschool Inc OH$220,348 Director $19,629 $21,973 2025
Intown Playgroup Inc DC$233,068 Director Of The Playgroup $38,333 $36,494 2024
Philomath Montessori School OR$233,069 Executive Director $70,098 $68,803 2025
Ashcreek Parent Cooperative Playschool OR$217,973 Teacher $43,926 $44,255 2024
Promiseland Preschool Inc AZ$217,865 President $60,800 $63,437 2024
Miss Kates Pre K Inc FL$217,749 Managing Director $41,600 $43,650 2023
Whitefish United Methodist Childrens Ce MT$217,376 Executive Dir. $50,529 $59,091 2024
Arizona Head Start Association AZ$216,750 Executive Director $80,692 $86,678 2023
The Neighborhood Playschool CO$215,847 Officer $55,000 $55,741 2025
The Episcopal Preschool Inc IL$236,912 Director $58,500 $60,786 2025
Agape Educational Center Inc CA$236,971 Cfo $65,860 $61,698 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to WA 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 WA 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 default73rd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)76th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted75th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted72nd

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 (Karen Beckman Householder) 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 194 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B21), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $58,945 is reasonable (approximately the 73rd 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.