Page 17 - FIS World

Board Committee Chairs who are present at meetings, may o er feedback from the following committees:
Buildings and Grounds, which oversees and reports on school facilities and grounds. Chair: Ward Greenberg
Education, which is responsible for staying informed and up-to-date on all educational matters.
Chair: Stefan Syrén
Finance, which has responsibility for the oversight of all school nancial matters. Chair: Constantin Loebus
Policy, which maintains and updates school policies and the Articles of Association. Chair: Michael Kern
Trustees, which oversees all activities connected with maintaining a strong, committed and well-informed Board. Chair: Claudia Laux
As far as we know, Board meetings have always been open to parents. In attendance nowadays are the 12 Board members, Head of School, Principals, Directors, and PTG presidents, but all members of the school community are very welcome and the atmosphere is friendly, even jovial at times.
All parents and other members of the school community can attend these regular sessions of the Board unless otherwise decided by the Chair, as set forth in the Articles of Association. Meetings normally last between 90 and 120 minutes and follow a regular agenda, which consists of a welcome, approval of past minutes and opening remarks, before diving into committee highlights and questions, and other business and action items for approval. Community comments are invited before the closing remarks and meeting adjournment.
The Board, wanting to engage more parents – and possibly tired of mainly seeing my face – has made an addition to the agenda for this school year.
A showcase session will be used at each meeting to focus on a particular topic. The aim of this is to help increase understanding or knowledge of the school and to provide “international intellectual opportunities.”The hope is that everyone present will bene t and learn about general practices in school. At the rst meeting of the 2017/2018 school year, this consisted of an informative and interesting talk on faculty feedback and evaluation, and was presented by the Head of School and Principals. It lasted approximately one hour, and there were opportunities for questions and answers.
During the community comment section, Board Chair and FIS parent Jonathan Clenshaw takes questions and comments from the community. Understandably, it is expected that parents act respectfully, but all comments and questions are listened to and welcomed, even if they are challenging. They may be responded to immediately, or become a focus for a later meeting. Parents can also
contact Mr. Clenshaw in advance and ask that a point be considered as an agenda item.
If you are interested in how the school is run, or want to learn more about future developments, nances, student numbers, policies, and issues that may a ect you and your child; wish to increase your own understanding of education in a leading international school; or are keen to have your voice heard on issues arising at the meeting, then I strongly recommend you attend. The Board is obviously keen to make these meetings both welcoming AND interesting, so the least we can do is show our appreciation by accepting their kind o er.
Tony Winch FIS Parent
October 2017 FIS World 15