Understanding School Governance

When new parents tour the school, I frequently get asked the question “Who owns the school?” The short answer to that question is that all parents own the school. All of our current board members are parents of students enrolled in the school. Any profits earned are reinvested back in the school. There is not one person or company that takes away profit from our school. Our school is a non-profit yayasan officially known as Yayasan Surabaya International School. This is different than our school name because the Indonesian government banned the use of the word “International” in a school name. Therefore, we had to change our school name, but not our yayasan name.

Three-Tiered Governance System

Following Indonesian legal regulations our yayasan uses a three-tiered system of governance. The Board of Patrons (BOP) are the top tier of the yayasan. These are voting members of the board who work to set the strategic vision of the school. The BOP has one employee (the Head of School) and are responsible for hiring and evaluating the Head of School. The BOP also approves the annual budget, sets tuition, and approves policies for the school. The Board of Supervisors (BOS) participate in all meetings with the BOP, but are non-voting members of the board. The Board of Management (BOM) is comprised of the Head of School, the Principal, the Business Manager and the Administrative Assistant. They are responsible for the day to day operations of the school.

Join Our School Board

We are currently looking at five members ended their terms at the end of the year. This creates an opportunity for more parents to get involved with the school. SIS is looking at bringing in a board consultant at the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year to train new members. We have also offered training opportunities through the annual EARCOS Administrative conference in October. This year one member and I participated in an annual board conference in Hanoi.

Making a Difference as a Board Member

Good board members keep a focus on the horizon of the school and care about the future of the school. They are able to give themselves to the school without following a personal agenda. If you think you have what it takes to participate in developing the future of the school, please send a letter of application to me (Matthew Gaetano) at mgaetano@sis.sch.id.

See Also: What is Accreditation?

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