BELIEVE STL Academy
Minutes
April 2025 Board Meeting
Date and Time
Tuesday April 29, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Location
Directors Present
L. Douglas (remote), L. Voellinger (remote), M. Hantak (remote), M. Johnson (remote), P. Woods (remote), S. Harmon (remote), S. Williams (remote), T. Wells (remote)
Directors Absent
D. Thomas, J. Boone, K. Martin-Johnson, R. Whitley
Guests Present
H. Harshman (remote)
I. Opening Items
A.
Record Attendance
B.
Call the Meeting to Order
P. Woods called a meeting of the board of directors of BELIEVE STL Academy to order on Tuesday Apr 29, 2025 at 5:02 PM.
II. Approval of Board Meeting Minutes - March
A.
Approve March Board Meeting Minutes
S. Harmon made a motion to approve the minutes from March 2025 Board Meeting on 03-25-25.
T. Wells seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
III. Principal & Executive Director Report (Academic, Culture, Data, etc)
A.
Principal's Report
B.
Executive Director Report
- "SLPS lawsuit against new St. Louis charter high school can proceed, court says"
- Narrative in the post dispatch mentions BELIEVE, but we are currently not listed as a defendant in the lawsuit
- Course of action: take no action
- Narrative in the post dispatch mentions BELIEVE, but we are currently not listed as a defendant in the lawsuit
- Update BELIEVE model to serve larger population; provide bigger impact
- advantageous to enrollment
- will be presented at the May board meeting
- Construction update:
- On target to open for the fall semester
- Closing mid-late May to start construction
- Waiting on permits from the city
IV. FY26 Budget Approval
A.
Vote: FY26 Budget
Reviewed the 2025-2026 budget
- stable position if we get the Bloomberg Grant: hopefully offer by mid-May
- advocating for teachers pay
- increases across the board in facility ops- larger space
S. Harmon made a motion to approve the FY26 Budget.
L. Douglas seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
V. Invoice Approval - New Building
A.
Approval of HKW Invoice
T. Wells made a motion to Approve the application and certification the HKW Invoice.
M. Johnson seconded the motion.
The board VOTED to approve the motion.
VI. Committee Updates
A.
Finance Committee
Key indicators:
- student recruitment- in the green
- public revenue- in the green
- private revenue- in the green
- Expenditures to date- yellow
- Cash on hand is well above target range
B.
Academic Committee
Timeline moving forward to get the academic committee up and running:
- April – Job description overview //
- Board meeting- outline May priorities for the committees
- May – Committee meetings // begin drafting goals
- June – Committee meetings // finalize goals
- July – Report goals to board // get feedback
C.
Development Committee
Timeline moving forward to get the development committee up and running:
- April – Job description overview //
- Board meeting- outline May priorities for the committees
- May – Committee meetings // begin drafting goals
- June – Committee meetings // finalize goals
- July – Report goals to board // get feedback
D.
Governance Committee
Timeline moving forward to get the governance committee up and running:
- April – Job description overview //
- Board meeting- outline May priorities for the committees
- May – Committee meetings // begin drafting goals
- June – Committee meetings // finalize goals
- July – Report goals to board // get feedback
VII. Closing Items
A.
Upcoming Deadlines & Things to Know
B.
Adjourn Meeting
Moving to executive session at 6:06pm
There being no further business to be transacted, and upon motion duly made, seconded and approved, the meeting was adjourned at 6:35 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
M. Hantak
Academic
Culture
Data
Other