 Departing trustee: Gráinne MacRae The Board extended sincere thanks to departing trustee and Board Vice Chair Gráinne MacRae. Gráinne has served as a trustee on the ISD Board since May 2012. She has sat on the Policy, Communications and Director Search committees, served as Board Secretary, Board Vice Chair and Chair of the Governance and Development committee. Before being elected to the Board, Gráinne was President of the PTO. The Board acknowledged Gráinne’s immense contribution to ISD and wished her, and her family, all the very best as they move on to new adventures. New Vice Chair: Jennifer Grant With the departure of the Board’s Vice Chair, and in accordance with ISD Bylaws Section VIII C, ISD trustees held an election for a new Vice Chair. Jennifer Grant was elected Vice Chair. The Board congratulated Jennifer on her election and thanked her for her continuing service to ISD. School calendar Following last month’s first reading, the Board again deliberated on the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 school calendars proposed by school administration. School start and end days, holidays as well as time set aside for teacher professional development and re-accreditation work were debated. The guiding thread of the discussions remained the academic well-being of ISD students. The Board voted to adopt the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 school calendars. The main change in these calendars is the extension of the October Fall break to a full week. The change responds to a concern from the community to have a longer break in the fall. To accommodate this, the holiday previously taken on 1 November has been moved over to the fall. The 2016-2017 school calendar will be posted shortly on our website. School Budget The first draft of the 2016-2017 school budget was presented to the Board by director Alan Knobloch for the Board’s first reading and feedback. The budget book reviewed by the Board included budget priorities, a summary of new faculty positions proposed as well as comparative and historical analyses of tuition. The 2016-2017 budget will be re-presented to the Board for its second reading and vote in January 2016. Presentation by Instructional Coach Trupti Patel Trupti Patel, ES Instructional Coach, gave the Board a presentation on The role of an Instructional Coach. Ms Patel briefly outlined the tasks of an instructional coach. These tasks aim towards supporting teachers, offering them guidance, training and resources as needed, and helping to improve instructional practice and student learning. Full minutes of the 1 December meeting will be available to the ISD community following approval by the Board in January 2016. Vesna de la Borde Chair, ISD Board of Trustees |
Board News >