Board Chair Letter 11 March 2013
by Marc de Vries
BOT Chair
marc@vries.net
On February 19th the Board of Trustees had its Board Meeting. During this meeting we discussed a number of agenda items and approved the Preliminary budget for the school year 2013-2014. The main agenda item was the Private School Act 2550. PSA 2550 is a law that will have an impact on ISB’s ownership and governance structure.
As you know, ISB’s legal entity is the International School Association (ISA). This is a non-profit association of which all parents are members. The members elect 12 Board of Trustees consisting solely of parents and the Board may appoint an additional 3 members. ISA is the organization running the school (receiving tuition fees, hiring teachers etc.) Assets such as land and buildings and teacher housing are in different entities, and directly or indirectly under control of the Board.
The purpose of the Private Schools Act B.E. 2550 (as amended 2554) is to provide an improved regulatory framework for the growing number of private schools in Thailand. The Act supersedes the Private Schools Act 2525. The law was passed in 2011, but an exemption of 2 years was given to allow schools time to comply. A number of articles in the law were incompatible with ISB’s (and some other schools) history, purpose and good functioning. Through our lawyers and a successful lobby of the International Schools Association of Thailand (ISAT) a number of amendments were made. Nevertheless, ISB may still need to make changes to its governance structure. Over the past two years preparations have already been made to comply with the requirements. Final adjustments are now being made to the proposed structure.
The main issues under review are:
(i) ISB needs to submit a school charter. It will then be considered a new juristic entity recognized as a “Formal School”, and ISA will remain as the “license holder”. ISA is required to transfer its assets (except land) to ISB.
(ii) ISB will need to have an Executive Board that consists of, at a minimum, a Thai representative as the license holder, the Thai Director, the Thai Manager (if not the same person as the Director), a representative of students’ parents, and a representative of teachers and qualified person(s).
(iii) There could be some financial implications as a Royal Decree on how the Revenue Department will treat tax matters is not yet issued.
The law allows leeway in how the School Charter is drafted, and the eventual structure is being worked so that, as much as possible, the impact on ISA’s current governance model is minimized.
Once finalized, the changes will be communicated to all ISA members and brought to a vote at the AGM on May 21st. This would enable us to comply before the extension expires on June 9th 2013.
On a final note, I would like to thank our Headmistress Usa Somboon for her tireless efforts in working on and shaping PSA 2550 for the past five years, both in her role at ISB, as well as in her position as President of ISAT. I would also like to thank Al Chandler who has been instrumental in ISB’s efforts to minimize the impact of the law on ISB’s governance structure, and championing the rights of the ISA members.
Next BOT Meeting
The next BOT meeting will be held at 6PM on Tuesday 19 March at MPB. The meeting is open for all community members to attend.
Yours sincerely,
Marc de Vries
BOT Chair
BOT Agenda for March 19th Board meeting
by Walairat (Oor) WATTANA-UNGKOON
walairaw@isb.ac.th
The next School Board regular meeting will be on Tuesday, March 19, 2013, 6:00 pm at the MPB 3. Please find the agenda attached.
All ISA members are welcome to attend.
Board Agenda
ISB Board of Trustees Election and ISA Annual General Meeting 2013
by Joy Davy
joy.davy@yahoo.com
ISB Board of Trustees Election and ISA Annual General Meeting 2013
May 21, 2013, 7:00 pm
Cultural Centre
Dear ISA Members,
The ISB Board of Trustees would like to announce that the ISB Board of Trustees’ election will take place on May 21, 2013 to fill vacant positions on the ISB Board of Trustees. The election will be held during the day of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the International School Association (ISA), comprised of all ISB parents, and results will be announced that evening. Newly elected trustees will hold a two-year term beginning August 1, 2013. The Board encourages interested ISA members to submit a nomination form in order to put their name on the ballot or to suggest names of possible candidates. The ISB Board of Trustees is currently made up of twelve elected positions and up to three appointed positions. This year there will be 8 (eight) open spots on the Board to be filled by elected Trustees. Appointed positions will not be filled until after the AGM.
Candidates for the Board of Trustees should be aware of the responsibilities and rewards of serving on the Board. The Board of Trustees is the guardian of the school’s mission. The Board sets policy, focuses on school governance and long-term, strategic issues. The Board does not become involved in specific management, personnel or curricular issues. The full Board meets once per month in regular session to discuss issues and aims for consensus before all votes are taken. BOT meetings occur in the evenings at ISB and last approximately three hours. BOT meetings are divided into a closed executive session and a regular session open for all ISA members.
Trustees also serve on one or more committees corresponding to their skills and interests. Current committees include the Business Committee, the Committee on Trustees, and the Strategic Improvement and Learning Committee. Committees meet one time per month for approximately two hours and are the working groups of the Board. Subjects such as financial stability, budget oversight, stewardship of ISB’s educational program, evaluation and training of the Board, and future strategic improvements in alignment with the mission and guiding principles of ISB are just a few examples of the issues addressed by the committees. Recommendations on these issues are made to the full board by the committee chairs during the regular monthly sessions.
In addition to these two monthly meetings, trustees attend retreats twice a year in May and August to review overall direction of the school, set policy goals, and learn about the roles and responsibilities of being a trustee.
The rewards of being on the Board include the opportunity to interact with a dynamic school leadership team, and to understand and help shape the direction of ISB’s progress for the future. Trustees are charged with the responsibility of representing ISB and the ISA as a whole, and not any specific constituency within the community. No special professional or personal background is needed to serve on the Board, other than ISA membership, a positive attitude, the ability to work as a member of a team, and a deep interest in maintaining and further enhancing the excellence of ISB.
On April 10, 2012 (Wednesday) at 7:30 a.m. (in the MPB 3) and 6:30 p.m. (in the MPB 3) there will be two open sessions for the ISA entitled “What is a Trustee?” All ISA members considering running for election are strongly recommended to attend one of these sessions.
A Board of Trustees’ nomination form is available as an attachment to the right, and online at
https://www.isb.ac.th/BOT/BOT_Nomination_Form_2013.doc or in the Head of School’s office. The deadline for submitting applications is 12:00 noon on Thursday, April 12, 2013. All nomination papers (e-copies) must be sent to joy.davy@yahoo.com (with your name as the subject) and hard copies must be filed in the Head of School’s office by the deadline.
There will be a “Meet the Candidates” night on Thursday, May 2, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. in the ES MPR on the ISB Campus. Candidates should plan to attend both the “Meet the Candidates’ Night” session as well as the AGM on May 21, 2013 in the Cultural Center.
All new trustees are required to attend our end of the year retreat on June 01, 2013.
Interested ISA members are warmly invited to run for the Board of Trustees. Please contact Joy Davy at 0879336062, or joy.davy@yahoo.com for any questions regarding serving on the Board.
Joy Davy
Chair, Committee on Trustees
BOT (Board of Trustees)
Self Control
Chad Bates
chadb@isb.ac.th
With regard to ISB’s laptop program, the single biggest criticism I hear from parents is: “my child finds the computer such a distraction, they are constantly switching between chat windows (games, Facebook, choose your child’s choice distraction), their homework takes FOREVER!” At ISB we want our students to continually develop the necessary skills, discipline and habits of mind, to get the maximum educational benefit out of the laptop, however sometimes we need a little outside help.
Each of the MacBook Pros issued in grades 6-10 comes ready installed with “SelfControl.” SelfControl is a program that puts the student in charge of blocking access to web sites for a defined period of time. This time allows the student to focus on their set homework without distraction.
SelfControl is a program I personally use and recommend to increase productivity, it’s available free of charge for the Mac platform. The equivalent program for PC is called SelfRestraint.
Mac: https://selfcontrolapp.com/
PC: https://download.cnet.com/SelfRestraint/3000-2381_4-12351711.html
[youtube]https://youtu.be/xpELBKubcKw[/youtube]
Get your goggles, bike and running shoes ready!
by Kevin M. Sypolt
ksypolt@gmail.com
The 14th Annual Colgate Kids Triathlon is just around the corner. The race will take place on Monday, May 6th (ISB holiday) at 7:30AM starting at the two ISB pools.
It’s shaping up to be an incredible event! Again this year the triathletes will receive timing chips to wear around their ankles for accurate time and distance recording. The Relay Race will again allow relay teams in each age division (based upon the oldest participant in the relay team), so athletes can form teams of three people to participate together. One of the relay team members can be a teacher or other adult this year.
The distances this year will be:
• 5-6: 50m swim, 1 km bike, 450m run
• 7-8: 100m swim, 2.5 km bike, 800m run
• 9-10: 150m swim, 4.5 km bike, 1.2 km run
• 11-12: 200m swim, 4.5 km bike, 1.7 km run
• 13-14: 250m swim, 6.8 km bike, 2.4 km run
• 15+ : 350m swim, 9.1 km bike, 3.1 km run
Registration and other information will follow in the few weeks. But please mark your calendar with this year’s triathlon date.
Please contact me if you have any questions.
Thanks
Kevin M. Sypolt
ksypolt@gmail.com
084-388-7715
Save The Date: The Annual Father Daughter Dance
by Linda Stuckey
lindastuckey@midcircle.com
SAVE THE DATE: The Annual Father Daughter Dance hosted by the Girl Scouts of Bangkok, Thailand is now going to be held on Saturday, May 18th from 6:00-10:00pm. Ticket sales will begin the last week of March in the elementary school breeze way. Cost will be 3500 baht per couple or 1500 per child and 2000 baht per adult.
Yoga Stops Traffick
by Sharka Furda
sharka.furda@gmail.com
Yoga Stops Traffick raised money, awareness and energy last Saturday at ISB. We did it once again for the forth year in a row – 108 Sun Salutations performed by 42 participants and 38 thousand Baht collected in donations (six thousand more than last year).
Thank you so much to all in the wonderful ISB community! Special thanks to the Traffick Jam club for covering the cost of the T-shirts and the banner.
Sharka Furda
The latest Panther Productions Broadcast
by Christopher Bell
christob@isb.ac.th
Dear Parents,
eNewsletter Guidelines
by Tony Arnold
anthonya@isb.ac.th
ISB eNewsletters provide a valuable avenue for communication within the ISB parent community. For your convenience we have provided you with our eNewsletter guidelines below.
Submitting an announcement for publication
ISB accepts announcements from ISB families for potential publication in our eNewsletters. The announcements are generally intended to highlight events that occur at ISB and/or highlight information about ISB.
What to include in the announcement
• A title for your announcement
• An email contact for further information
Where to submit your announcement
4publish@isb.ac.th is for announcements of interest to the entire ISB community.
tinaratr@isb.ac.th is for Elementary School (ES) announcements of interest to ES families.
maurilib@isb.ac.th is for Middle School (MS) announcements of interest to MS families.
vijitl@isb.ac.th is for High School (HS) announcements of interest to HS families.
Your announcement will be submitted to the appropriate Principal and/or to our Marketing Director for review. ISB reserves the right to determine which announcements will and will not be published, and to edit announcements that are approved for publication.
Frequency of eNewsletter mailings
The ISB eNewsletter that is for the entire community is sent out on Thursdays. Announcements for potential publication in this newsletter must be received by noon on Thursdays.
The ES, MS, and HS eNewsletters are sent out on Fridays. Announcements for potential publication in these newsletters must be received by noon on Fridays.