The Meliora School
Minutes
Board Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday February 3, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Location
Remote: call in details below
Directors Present
L. Hollon (remote), L. Hooda (remote), L. Ramdhanie (remote), P. Flinch (remote), Z. Mahmuda (remote)
Directors Absent
D. Stinson
Guests Present
Christa Thomas (remote), Kelly Cadman (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
P. Flinch called a meeting of the board of directors of The Meliora School to order on Tuesday Feb 3, 2026 at 7:08 PM.
C.
Approve Agenda
P. Flinch made a motion to Approve agenda.
L. Hooda seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
D.
Approve Minutes from Previous Meeting
P. Flinch made a motion to approve the minutes from Board Meeting on 01-20-26.
L. Ramdhanie seconded the motion.
The board VOTED unanimously to approve the motion.
II. Recurring Items
A.
Head of School Report
- Enrollment
- Live lottery held (in-person + virtual); 125 seats offered
- Current status (as of report): 23 fully enrolled; additional seats accepted but still pending required documentation
- Waitlist ~39 (and growing with recent new applications)
- Parent/community task force ran high-touch follow-up (calls/texts/emails/robo texts) and hosted an ad hoc Zoom Q&A to support conversion
- Transportation surfaced as the biggest family concern; needs assessment going out next week. Transportation budget currently $40K, with potential increase under review
- Enrollment policy update planned (tiered documentation approach) to reduce Year 1 barriers; to return to board for approval next meeting
- Milestones: on track overall; planning to extend additional offers (up to ~40) from waitlist to hit targets; May 30 benchmark requires 85% enrollment for funding allocation
- Finance
- Working with Vertex Education on forecasting and budget revisions
- RefineEd funds arrived via check (to be deposited)
- CSP budget submitted with Year 1 personnel adjustments and reallocated funds toward development/marketing
- First payroll processed; payroll schedule is semi-monthly. 403(b) deductions planned after 60 days
- TRS contributions begin in July once teachers are hired
- Facilities
- Lease sent to attorneys; minimal feedback. Plan to resubmit to the SEC and move toward signing
- Due diligence underway: zoning determination received; zoning adjustment in progress and expected to resolve by March
- Additional facility requirement identified (“vapor ducts”); quotes in progress
- Construction can begin prior to zoning resolution (zoning mainly affects certificate of occupancy timing)
- Hiring, Benefits, Payroll
- Active hiring underway for guides (teachers), operations manager, and director of social services; ~15–17 candidates in the pipeline
- Candidates completed a mission-aligned performance task and are moving through interviews; finals led by Staci Arrington (guides) and Kiaura Stewart (operations)
- Director of Academics, Staci Arrington, started and is building academic systems and hiring plans
- Staffing goal: fully hired by end of April; onboarding/community-building planned beginning April 1
- Academics / Program
- Year 1 instructional focus: mastery-based + personalized learning (with entrepreneurship/CS as lighter-touch components)
- Exploring partnership with Building 21 (Philadelphia) for technical assistance and platform support; proposal ~$80K over ~18 months/two years (potentially under CSP)
- Infinite Campus selected as SIS; implementation started
- Community + Events
- Continued recruitment emphasized post-lottery
- Enrolled Learner Box / family event planned for Feb 21 (location pending final confirmation), with student engagement and team-building activities
- School Choice Expo rescheduled to March 14
B.
Reminder: SCSC Governance Training - 10 Feb and 11 Feb
- Lakeesha and Lydia will be pursuing training with an alternate provider due to conflicts with SCSC Governance Training dates
- New members will not need to attend this training
III. New Items
A.
New Board Members: Darleny
L. Ramdhanie made a motion to Approve the addition of Darleny Cepin as a Board member.
P. Flinch seconded the motion.
Next actions:
- Confirm start date
- Confirm committee assignments
B.
Board Recruitment
C.
Using BoardOnTrack Discussion
D.
Committee Meetings Discussion
IV. Closing Items
A.
Next Meeting Date: 17 February 2026
B.
Adjourn Meeting
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 8:36 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
P. Flinch
Documents used during the meeting
- Executive Report - 2_3_2026.pdf