From the Head of School

The ISA School Board

Mao Ze Dong led his country for 37 years with the title, Chairman.  Fifty years before, there had been Emperor Pu Yi, fifty years later, we have President Xi.  These are more usual titles for a country’s executive authority.  Unofficially, Mao was known as ‘the red emperor’: it is a more accurate description of his power and impact.  To be a chairman you really need a board, which points to a very different way of running things than a dictatorship.

As a charity, ISA has a board of trustees.  Some boards run their organisations directly; our board delegates executive authority to a head of school, while retaining some very important responsibilities.  It appoints the head of school and then works with him or her to create a strategy which sets out the school’s direction.  Every year, the board assesses the head’s performance in light of that strategy.  It meets throughout the year, to review the school’s progress, hearing from staff reps, PTO, student councils as well the school’s other senior leaders.  

Everyone else in China was ultimately accountable to Mao, but Mao himself wasn’t accountable to anyone: there were no elections and he couldn’t be fired. If you are accountable to another decision maker and things go wrong you always have the defence that things went wrong because of the action or inaction of the person above you. Boards are a great way of checking up on a chief executive (or head of school). They hire, set targets, then leave the operations alone - allowing them to stand back and evaluate.

The ISA board represents a range of perspectives.  Four members come from the major energy companies that make up Paloak, the company that owns the school (both Paloak and the school are not for profit).  We also have two elected parents, and three or four members appointed by the board itself to ensure a balance of expertise.

We work best in groups, where people challenge our assumptions and demand we think things through.  Mao had many successes, but without peers, no-one could question him.  The results were devastating.  A school board ensures we have a group of people, who are not part of our daily operations who make sure the best interests of our community are served.

Last night we had our first board meeting of the school year.  In November, we will hold elections for the parent representatives.  If you are interested in taking part look out for the notices nearer the time.