Message from the Board
Dear BIS community,
As we wrap up this school year and head off into our vacation time, I would like to send another note.
I would first like to express the board’s gratitude to Ms. Denise Walsh for her 4 years of dedication to BIS. She came to us in a difficult time and has done a commendable job at establishing the systems under which the school operates. There are many aspects of the school operations where we can directly see her touch, but much of what she has achieved is not directly visible. The Board wishes her the best as she moves on to a new position and a new challenge.
With that, we also welcome Mr. Garth Wyncoll who will take over in mid-July. We look forward to working with Garth to pick up where Ms. Walsh has brought us and to continue on the improvement of all aspects of the school.
I would also like to report that the Board Treasurer, Mr. Charlie Steinhauser has resigned from his position for personal reasons. We would like to thank Mr. Steinhauser for the time and dedication he has put into his role. An engineer by training, Mr. Steinhauser has impressed us with his keen sense of bookkeeping and accounting practices through his sharp observations and dedication to accuracy. His tight reigns on the finances have been one of the key reasons for our positive audit results. We will sincerely miss his insight and his dedication.
As we are at the end of the school year, the Advisory Board will use the break to assess the future needs of the Board and in August we should have further news. In the meantime, to ensure legal compliance with Indonesia’s foundation laws, the Board of Directors will be:
Chairman Kib Roby
Secretary Regine Winkler
Treasurer Su Eun Kim
In a previous message, I provided an update about the status of our land purchases. I can further update you that approximately 80% of the land has been transferred to “Hak Guna Bangunan” (HGB, “right to build”) status under Yayasan Bali International School and we expect the remaining land to receive the same status in the coming months. We have purchased all the land we deem necessary so we can start the planning phase for building.
The total land size that was purchased is roughly 1.7 hectares. In comparison, our current campus, including the two car parks and the big field near the Canang Sari restaurant is 2.25 hectares. The clear benefit to the new land is that will be one contiguous plot on which we can create a well-planned layout to maximize the use of the space.
The Board has spent a great deal of time this year working on preparing ourselves and Mr. Wyncoll for next year. One major work that will be implemented in the coming year is a revised policy manual that has been refined over a long period of time with input, not only from the community and the HoS, but also the Board of Advisors. As this is a living document, we are sure there are still ways it can be improved but we hope it will provide the necessary guidelines for Mr. Wyncoll in the administration of the school.
We have already held a short working retreat with Mr. Wyncoll to provide him with an overview of the history of BIS as well as how the Board works with the overall goal of setting us all up for the future. We will hold another retreat on his arrival in Bali to finalize the details of how we will work together and to determine the annual and long-term goals. The overall strategy that we create together will then be dissected into it various parts for the different constituencies to work on throughout the year, including the Head of School, the Board and the Topic Groups. We look forward to starting next school year with a solid work plan.
I would like to express the board’s gratitude to the members of our community who will be leaving this year. The board would like to thank all of you for your service and support of our small community. We wish you success in your future adventures.
Wishing you all a relaxing break.
Regards,
Kib Roby
Chairman
YBIS Board of Directors
Please note: as of July 15, 2018, Mr. Garth Wyncoll will be Head of Bali Island School and he will take ownership of this account.