January 16, 2015

Many thanks to ISD parents who were able to attend the Board Coffee on Wednesday morning! We very much appreciated the turnout and the chance to exchange with parents on what the ISD Board of Trustees does.  January 2015 Board Meeting The ISD Board held its first meeting of the calendar year on Thursday evening. Below are some highlights of the meeting. Adoption of 2015-2016 School Budget Following Trustees’ first examination of the 2015-2016 budget last month, ISD Director Dr Knobloch presented updated details and clarifications. The final budget was put to vote and adopted by the Board of Trustees. The focus of ISD’s 2015-2016 budget is to continue to strengthen educational services for students and the professional environment for teachers. It also provides for funds to be channeled towards innovation. Even as its ultimate aim is to move our school forward, i.e. not only maintain but also expand programs, the budget makes every effort to keep an eye on expenditure and school fees. The 2015-2016 budget will be presented at the Annual General Meeting of the ISD Association on April 23, we invite all parents to attend. Report on Strategic Planning Goals The chair of ISD’s Strategic Planning Core Planning team (director Alan Knobloch) and the facilitators of the three Strategic Goal committees* (Sandra Goldsborough, ISD teacher; Pam Pelliccia, ISD ES Counselor; and Gilles Meura, ISD parent) presented to the Board an update on the goals and action plans currently under definition as part of the school’s strategic planning process. Strategic goal committees have been working hard over the past few months to define these goals and action plans. Discussion on Electronic voting Governance and Development committee Chair Gráinne MacRae reported on the research carried out by the committee on the use of electronic voting for ISD association elections, discussing the advantages, possible ramifications and requirements. An amendment to ISD Articles of Association and Bylaws would be required to implement electronic voting. Such an amendment would have to be voted upon a year before an e-voting system is put into place. Trustees requested that the Governance and Development committee continue to work on this. Full minutes of the 15 January meeting will be available to the ISD community following approval by the Board in February 2015. Wishing you an excellent weekend, Vesna de la Borde Chair, ISD Board of Trustees * Strategic Goal Committees