January 26, 2021
Dear Board of Trustees,
Thank you for your Board Update dated January 13, 2021 regarding 2021/2022 Tuition. We have reviewed the information contained therein, discussed it as a community, and have three comments in response.
Firstly, the $18,900 in fundraising, which stated in your letter represents a “48.11% increase over the same previous period”, in fact, highlights a major weakness of GISB. A primary function of the Board of Trustees should be fundraising, and this amount is nowhere near large enough to make an impact. The purpose of a board is to make it easier for the teachers and Head of School to do their jobs, by taking care of non-classroom issues such as strategic planning, finance, property and facilities management, marketing, and fundraising. We believe that the GISB Bylaws should be amended to require that board members pledge to fundraise defined sums of money. Doing so will bring GISB in alignment with the bylaws of many of its competitor schools and will ensure that those who are elected as a trustee are committed to fundraising and other non-classroom initiatives. These are the areas in which we so dearly need leadership.
Secondly, with respect to the Treuebonus, the 50% reduction for the 2021/2022 school year should be a temporary, COVID-related measure. In the event that we determine as a community that the Treuebonus should be reduced in future years, we believe that this should require a separate resolution. The proposed reduced Treuebonus should not automatically roll forward. In view of the school’s extremely limited pool of potential students, particularly at the higher grade levels, we recognize that the Treuebonus is an important means of retaining loyal families, who have committed to GISB for the long term.
Finally, we believe charging the volunteer fee at enrollment and crediting it back upon verified completion is a shortsighted method of improving cash flow. While this strategy may provide a minor boost to cash in the short term, in the long run it will undermine community solidarity, because collecting the fee upfront takes away the incentive to volunteer later. The volunteer fee has always been a “trick” to encourage parents to commit time to the school. The intangible benefit to the community of having parents meet one another and invest emotionally in the school far exceeds the $150 fee. Therefore, it is our position that the method of collecting the volunteer fee should remain unchanged.
Sincerely,
Concerned Parents of GISB
Updates
January 27, 2021
I spent the entire morning digging through the old bylaws and honestly it is kind of wild how much the board has been neglecting the fundraising side of things while still expecting us to foot the bill for their lack of planning. People keep messaging me with their own stories about the bonus cuts and it is clear we are not the only ones feeling like the communication from above is just totally missing the point.
12 Comments
Given the pandemic impact, why the tuition needs to be increased? Would it be possible to add a paragraph regarding not changing the tuition?
Hope, it is a beginning of a great and fruitful discussion of the future of GISB, the community we want to build, and the leadership we want to have. Great start! Thanks, Mike!
Regarding fundraising, I think they underestimate the potential. However, for them to be successful, it would require changes in the governance structure and transparency. Regarding the volunteer fee, I was surprised. I always thought that the volunteer fee was money that belonged to the parent association and not to the board. I was surprised to see that the board gets to decide this. It would be important to keep these things separate.
Great comment! Indeed, an increase of tuition leads to an increase of the lowest 50% of the tuition amount that a family in need has to pay regardless of the financial aid. At least, this measure should have been compensated by a higher financial aid allowance...
I am signing the petition because I agree with the points #2 and #3. I would second Clementine Tufts comments regarding point #1 in that the fundraising issue is extremely important, but does not necessarily need to become a contractual clause for the Board members.
Hello, Though I am in complete agreement with the second and third points regarding the Treuebonus and the volunteer fee, I think the first point requires further development. I think that the common practice in American independent schools of relying on fundraising for the institution to remain viable is ultimately an unsustainable organizational strategy that inevitably leads to increased costs in a race to offer nicer and nicer things for the segment of the population that has no limit to what they can spend on school. Just because it’s the way most independent schools have made it this far doesn’t mean that it’s working. As far as I know, these independent schools are becoming so costly that some local independent schools also partner with financial service providers to offer educational loans... for elementary and high school. Personally, that is not the trajectory i want to follow. I also think that a development officer with the experience and CONTACTS to set up a profitable development operation would cost the school at the least 150k/year, maybe more, including salary and benefits. If we found someone with less experience, I would anticipate it taking a couple more years for the position to pay for itself. Either way, we need to investigate the market norm and not just assume that if we hire someone the position will automatically start increasing our capital. It might take some time. I do agree that the board should make a top priority of coming up with clearly defined fundraising goals with an ACTIONABLE tactical plan. HOWEVER, I hope the GISB Board does not set a “Give or Get” policy for board participation. My hope for the board is that the members put their active attention, skills, and creativity to helping GISB achieve its goals and overcome challenges. And while generally many board positions serve as feathers to put in one’s cap, a Give or Get policy, almost ensures that these positions, in part, become rewards for donating money or
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January 26, 2021
Dear Board of Trustees,
Thank you for your Board Update dated January 13, 2021 regarding 2021/2022 Tuition. We have reviewed the information contained therein, discussed it as a community, and have three comments in response.
Firstly, the $18,900 in fundraising, which stated in your letter represents a “48.11% increase over the same previous period”, in fact, highlights a major weakness of GISB. A primary function of the Board of Trustees should be fundraising, and this amount is nowhere near large enough to make an impact. The purpose of a board is to make it easier for the teachers and Head of School to do their jobs, by taking care of non-classroom issues such as strategic planning, finance, property and facilities management, marketing, and fundraising. We believe that the GISB Bylaws should be amended to require that board members pledge to fundraise defined sums of money. Doing so will bring GISB in alignment with the bylaws of many of its competitor schools and will ensure that those who are elected as a trustee are committed to fundraising and other non-classroom initiatives. These are the areas in which we so dearly need leadership.
Secondly, with respect to the Treuebonus, the 50% reduction for the 2021/2022 school year should be a temporary, COVID-related measure. In the event that we determine as a community that the Treuebonus should be reduced in future years, we believe that this should require a separate resolution. The proposed reduced Treuebonus should not automatically roll forward. In view of the school’s extremely limited pool of potential students, particularly at the higher grade levels, we recognize that the Treuebonus is an important means of retaining loyal families, who have committed to GISB for the long term.
Finally, we believe charging the volunteer fee at enrollment and crediting it back upon verified completion is a shortsighted method of improving cash flow. While this strategy may provide a minor boost to cash in the short term, in the long run it will undermine community solidarity, because collecting the fee upfront takes away the incentive to volunteer later. The volunteer fee has always been a “trick” to encourage parents to commit time to the school. The intangible benefit to the community of having parents meet one another and invest emotionally in the school far exceeds the $150 fee. Therefore, it is our position that the method of collecting the volunteer fee should remain unchanged.
Sincerely,
Concerned Parents of GISB
Updates
January 27, 2021
I spent the entire morning digging through the old bylaws and honestly it is kind of wild how much the board has been neglecting the fundraising side of things while still expecting us to foot the bill for their lack of planning. People keep messaging me with their own stories about the bonus cuts and it is clear we are not the only ones feeling like the communication from above is just totally missing the point.
12 Comments
I agree the fundraising efforts should be more central focus of the Board of Trustees.
Given the pandemic impact, why the tuition needs to be increased? Would it be possible to add a paragraph regarding not changing the tuition?
Hope, it is a beginning of a great and fruitful discussion of the future of GISB, the community we want to build, and the leadership we want to have. Great start! Thanks, Mike!
Regarding fundraising, I think they underestimate the potential. However, for them to be successful, it would require changes in the governance structure and transparency. Regarding the volunteer fee, I was surprised. I always thought that the volunteer fee was money that belonged to the parent association and not to the board. I was surprised to see that the board gets to decide this. It would be important to keep these things separate.
Great comment! Indeed, an increase of tuition leads to an increase of the lowest 50% of the tuition amount that a family in need has to pay regardless of the financial aid. At least, this measure should have been compensated by a higher financial aid allowance...
I am signing the petition because I agree with the points #2 and #3. I would second Clementine Tufts comments regarding point #1 in that the fundraising issue is extremely important, but does not necessarily need to become a contractual clause for the Board members.
Hello, Though I am in complete agreement with the second and third points regarding the Treuebonus and the volunteer fee, I think the first point requires further development. I think that the common practice in American independent schools of relying on fundraising for the institution to remain viable is ultimately an unsustainable organizational strategy that inevitably leads to increased costs in a race to offer nicer and nicer things for the segment of the population that has no limit to what they can spend on school. Just because it’s the way most independent schools have made it this far doesn’t mean that it’s working. As far as I know, these independent schools are becoming so costly that some local independent schools also partner with financial service providers to offer educational loans... for elementary and high school. Personally, that is not the trajectory i want to follow. I also think that a development officer with the experience and CONTACTS to set up a profitable development operation would cost the school at the least 150k/year, maybe more, including salary and benefits. If we found someone with less experience, I would anticipate it taking a couple more years for the position to pay for itself. Either way, we need to investigate the market norm and not just assume that if we hire someone the position will automatically start increasing our capital. It might take some time. I do agree that the board should make a top priority of coming up with clearly defined fundraising goals with an ACTIONABLE tactical plan. HOWEVER, I hope the GISB Board does not set a “Give or Get” policy for board participation. My hope for the board is that the members put their active attention, skills, and creativity to helping GISB achieve its goals and overcome challenges. And while generally many board positions serve as feathers to put in one’s cap, a Give or Get policy, almost ensures that these positions, in part, become rewards for donating money or
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I agree the fundraising efforts should be more central focus of the Board of Trustees.