Trustees OPEN Meeting INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF KRAKOW 5:30p.m. June 12, 2012
Present: Chairman Allen Greenberg, Anne Braghetta, Max Dudhia, Allen Haberberg, John Lynch, Barbara Myrczek, Elysa Sicard, Eric van der Steen, Joerg von Weiler. Ex Officio: Mamie Heard, Piotr Buczkowicz, Barbara Kotarba (note taker), Brett Elkei, Erik Lutley, Małgorzata Gonet Mroczka, Sarah Wadiak. Absent: Jeff Gaskill future ISK Board Chairman representative. Visitors: VENUE: Piano Rouge, Main Square Krakow
The Board was hosted by Max Dudhia at Piano Rouge in Krakow center. DIRECTOR’S REPORT TO THE BOARD These last few weeks of school have been extraordinarily busy with many positive events and celebrations: PTA Spring Jamboree, Filharmonia Concert, Graduation, Japanese Art Workshop, final exams, and school trips within Poland and to Ukraine and Spain. Spring Jamboree welcomed approximately 250 people to our campus to enjoy a great community atmosphere, delicious food, beautiful weather, and lively performances from the winners of ISK Song Quest. Thank you goes to our PTA President and Steering Committee and Malin Blomqvist who organized this hugely successful and fun event. Filharmonic Concert was hugely successful with over 80% capacity for the morning concert involving ISK 60 students in grades 2-8. A special recognition must go to Ms. Sarah LyleWadiak who not only directed but also wrote the lyrics to the music and to Paul Lucas who assisted with the stage direction. Our students certainly learned from this opportunity to perform in Krakow’s Filharmonia. The free publicity and recognition of our student’s performance in this venue created a most positive image for ISK in the Krakow community. Graduation, the academic highlight of the year, was well attended with over 120 family, guests, Mogilany and Krakow political officials, Consulate members from Germany and France, ISK faculty, students and parents. A special thank you goes to the Board for your attendance and support. Japanese Art Workshop organized by Haruko Greenberg and Ms. Paulette Lidert (ISK art teacher) welcomed renowned artist Sanae Takahata, a Japanese artist who is in Krakow for
the opening of her exhibition at the Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology. Sanae began showing her work in Paris in 1977 and has exhibited her work in New York City, Seattle, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka and Kyoto. Sanae provided two workshops engaging 80 students (grades 1 -8) to create Japanese paper dolls. This event was a fantastic opportunity for our students! Students - SAT I and II: ISK administered a total 30 SAT I and II exams on Saturday, June 2nd. - Enrollment: Malgosia Gonet-Mroczka, Director of Admissions, prepared up-to-date admissions information. The implementation of IB will make a difference in enrollment. For the next year grade 5 has 17 students, grade 9 has 12 students and grade 10 has 14 students enrolled. This proves that the decision to go for IB program was an excellent one. Faculty: Staffing (expatriate) has been completed for next year and all contracts are signed by the following new faculty members: - Karen Klein, citizen of USA, will teach English in Middle and High School. Karen has taught AP English at Woodstock School in India (the oldest international boarding school) for the past five years as well as public schools in the USA. - Jean Ann Vukota, citizen of USA, will teach Drama in upper school, Native English in lower school, and will be a part-time teaching assistant in the Early Childhood Center. Jean Ann has taught in private schools in Florida. - Natasja Mackwood and David Kuszka (to be married in July) join us from Colegio Interamericano in Guatemala. Natasja and David, citizens of Canada, have also taught in international schools in Korea and Thailand. Natasja will teach grade 1 and David will teach grade 4. - Gisela Aquilar, citizen of USA, will join the ISK staff as an intern in the Early Childhood Center. An intern is a recent university graduate with teacher certification. Susan Oswald (current grade 1 teacher) has been appointed as the Coordinator of the Early Childhood Center and will also teach in the EC Center. Susan has taught for five years in Early Childhood programs in Taiwan and the United States. She will also serve as a member of the Senior Leadership Team. Note: One remaining position open for Polish language teacher in lower elementary. Upcoming Events for June: This is the final two weeks of school with the last day of school on June 21st. Parents are especially encouraged to attend Sports Day and the last day of school assembly June 10-15 Trip to Spain (grades 8-12) June 14-16 Spring camps for Middle and Elementary students June 19 Sports Day June 21 Last day of school assembly- moving up ceremonies (grades 5 & 8); Awards FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT TO THE BOARD A brief report was given by committee head Joerg von Weiler.
PTA REPORT TO THE BOARD The Chairman commended the PTA organization for their achievements and for being so strong. The Director agreed that this PTA is the level above other schools in her international experience and thanked PTA for their great work.
TEACHERS REPORT TO THE BOARD Dear Members of the Board of Trustees, May 31, 2012 It has recently come to the attention of the ISK faculty that the Board is considering adopting a policy concerning the number of teachers’ children who receive free tuition. Our director, Ms. Heard, has shared with us her recommendation to you, but she also encouraged us to approach you directly with our concerns, which is the purpose of this letter. We would respectfully ask that this policy does not limit the number of children, and that it applies equally to both foreign and local teachers. One of the things that we hear most often from visitors to ISK is how unique and special our school environment is. There is a family spirit that comes partly from our small classes, but also from the sense that we are like a traditional extended family living in a village, and “it takes a whole village to raise a child”. The fact that many teachers desire for their own children to attend this incredibly positive and stimulating institution sends a strong message to current and prospective families that they care deeply about making sure that the school’s mission is achieved every single day. Another reason for the success and popularity of our school is the positive relations between Polish and expatriate teachers. In many other schools where the salary and benefits are not equal, there is greater potential for negative impact on staff morale, which has inevitable consequences for the enthusiasm that each teacher brings to his or her classroom. Thanks to our shared salary scale, the increased move toward transparency that the Board and Ms. Heard have brought about this year, and our current positive climate where all teachers’ children have access to an ISK education, we feel the genuine satisfaction of working among equals and striving for the same common goal. We recognize that our school is continuing to slowly overcome a time of financial stress, but the excellent forward planning by the Board and the Director to institute the IB program, restructure classes in order to develop a more financially favorable student-teacher ratio, and heavily increase the marketing in order to attract more students means that there is no need to reduce one of the only benefits offered by ISK to teachers. Given that the number of teachers (and their children) will most likely remain constant as enrollment grows over the next few years, the total percentage of students who receive a tuition waiver will drop. Already, this is decreasing from 12% this year to 9% next year. Although there are six faculty children leaving at the end of this year, only two are planning to join next year, representing a reduction of 19% of students receiving this benefit. And of the teachers who will be at ISK next year, only three will have children not currently enrolled at ISK who could potentially attend. So it is likely that faculty children will continue to represent only a very small fraction of ISK students for the next several years. In order to avoid making an unrealistic request to the Board, we conducted a survey of
international schools from around the world to ask what their policies are. Of 48 schools who responded, 88% offer free tuition. Of these schools, 40% offer it without limiting the number of children, and only 14% limit the number of children to one. Sixty-five percent of all the schools offer the same benefit to both foreign and local teachers. Of the seven European schools who replied to the survey, five offer free tuition with no limit, one limits the number of children to three, and one has no limit, but requires all teachers to pay a reduced cost. All seven European schools treat foreign and local teachers equally. To reiterate, we request that 1) ISK not limit free tuition to teachers’ children, and 2) the same policy rules apply to foreign and local hires. The compelling reasons to do so are the following: ● this is in line with general trends in many international schools across the world, ● equalizing the salaries for foreign and local hires was a major progressive step in the right direction for staff morale, and to go back and change the policy with regards to teachers’ children would have negative effects on staff morale, ● the salary and benefits package at ISK is currently at or near the bottom compared to schools of a similar caliber and composition; free tuition for teachers’ children is a necessary incentive. We wish to express our thanks not only for the time you devote to this issue, but for all the thoughtful and progressive leadership you provide for the ISK family. Sincerely, ISK Faculty Sarah Wadiak spoke in favor of keeping things as they are that is not to limit number of teachers’ children at ISK and not to differentiate between local and foreign hires in this respect. She represented teachers opinion that it would be a shame to change things and that the staff hopes things will remain as they have been. The Board spoke of marketing ideas and improving student teacher ratio. The Director said all is going into the right direction. Teachers are involved in additional things at the school, recess time duties, lunch serving, contact time, etc. Eric van der Steen spoke of sustainability of the school which is the concern for all. All should be involved in generating ideas to bring extra money to the school. The school should make a few good investments. Sarah Wadiak noted that it would be impossible and detrimental to increase number of hours teachers work. The Chairman noted that the discussion of faculty benefits pre-dated the Loyalty Proposal presented by a group of parents. The Board had been looking at how money can be saved. Joerg von Weiler explained that the Board has to look at everything, discuss room for improvement; the Board has an agenda to ensure financial sustainability. The Board was not influenced by Loyalty Program proposal. He commented that increased enrollment is good news. Malgorzata Gonet-Mroczka spoke of enrollment and inquiries and the outreach the school has made.
The Director commented that faculty and staff are the greatest asset of ISK. If it were not for the staff the IB would not have not have been so successful on the fast track for authorization, all are committed totally to the implementation of the IB and have spent limitless numbers of hours in preparation. The Director stated she totally supports the staff. She informed that in 2007 the school had staff of 32 teachers and 130 students, next year the staff will be the same, 32, while the number of students will be considerably bigger. The Director reported she will stand behind the staff and the contribution they are making to ISK. Eric van der Steen urged that there is fairness in allocating teacher’s children in classes with native speakers. It is important to follow the ethics and this past year it was noticeable that teachers’ children are usually in classes with native speakers. The school should look into that. The Director assured the Board that this year the administration takes input from parents into consideration and there are meetings and lot of discussion and thought as to where to place children. Brett Elkei also said students will be assigned to classes next year only after much discussion and thought. Chairman Greenberg assured that all things should be referred to the future chairman Jeff Gaskill and Ellen Germain. Chairman Greenberg thanked the Board for three wonderful years and during this time the school definitely grew stronger. The right path was chosen. He will be watching the school from Houston where he will be working after leaving Krakow. Allen Haberberg spoke of the Board’s work and Board members leaving and election planned for the autumn 2012. John Lynch spoke of the great quality of the Board’s work under the leadership of Chairman Greenberg and thanked him for his support. The meeting adjourned at 6:00p.m.