State of the School - The Gap between Stated Purpose and Actual Practice
Updated: Sep 7
Stated Purpose
From an email sent by Sandy Calhoun on 18 August 2026
Actual Practice
Sandy Calhoun, as NOLS President, with the Board's assent, has systematically scaled back what he and the Board share about the State of the School.
Current restrictions range from small and symbolic - no longer having the Board Chair wear Paul Petzoldt's cap - to large and fact-based - the Board book is no longer available. Attendance at committee meetings is closed. The Board is no longer holding open meetings for the NOLS community. These changes have been made with Board approval, and they come from a Board that has historically shown little appetite for instructor feedback or community oversight.
We don't think this is how NOLS collectively wants to operate, and we're raising this concern because we believe the school is better than what this actual practice suggests.
NOLS Self-Assembly recommends a true open discussion about the State of the School. Our State of the School question:
Has achieving financial stability unintentionally made NOLS operationally unstable?
What does NOLS Form 990, the school's annual financial report, suggest about how the State of the School has changed over the last several years?
An analysis of NOLS Forms 990 Fiscal Year 2019 through FY2025 shows that NOLS has repositioned itself as a endowment-heavy, donor-dependent nonprofit. Was this shift intentional, or did it emerge accidentally through a series of expedient decisions that, over time, produced a structural change?
The Form 990 data do not depict a failing organization. They depict an organization in managed decline - one that has accumulated enough capital to sustain that decline comfortably for several years. But comfort is not a strategy. NOLS’ Board has inherited a growing endowment, declining core revenue, an elevated cost structure, and liquid reserves that have grown only modestly.
The choices made between FY2019 and FY2025 - relying more heavily on donors rather than restoring enrollment, and accumulating restricted funds rather than strengthening operating reserves - have positioned the organization reasonably well for the next three to five years.
What is NOLS business model going forward?
After that, if these trends do not reverse, the Board will face more difficult choices: shrink the organization, raise student tuition, merge with another outdoor education school, or redefine the mission. Achieving financial stability has had unintended consequences - the NEA open letter to the NOLS Board describes the cost to NOLS culture.
Has the school's transition to an endowment-heavy, donor-dependent nonprofit become the preferred business model? Is it sustainable? The Form 990 filings do not address these issues, but they make them impossible to ignore.
Sandy and the Board need to make the State of the School discussion match its stated purpose. Let an open dialogue begin on October 2nd.
As part of an open SOS discussion, we have the following questions for the NOLS Executive Team and Board:
Do you believe NOLS faculty and staff are equipped to meaningfully participate in reviewing what the Executive Team and Board are doing? And if not, why not?
Has limiting access to information and deleting events led to a more vibrant, engaged community? And if not, why do you do this?
How does this restrictive approach square with what NOLS teaches on expeditions — including to the corporate clients who come to NOLS precisely because the school models good judgment and leadership under pressure?
What does this bode for NOLS Culture when there's a gap this wide between the stated purpose and actual practice of something as important as discussing the state of the school at the State of the School meeting?
NOLS Self-Assembly
Our purpose is to serve as a link between NOLS and the greater NOLS community for an open discussion about how NOLS can stay true to its Mission and the practice of Expedition Behavior. We have consistently reached out to the NOLS Board and the Executive Team as a group. We aim to engage with open inquiry and constructive and generative dialogue.
