CAST YOUR LAST PROXY

We have come a long way since June 2006, when our group of concerned parents got together to brainstorm about what in the systems that were in place at International School Manila at the time, prevented it through the last 35 years from keeping its Superintendents over a longer and more relevant term.

Before we parents even had the creativity or opportunity to call ourselves ISM Stakeholders, the many decades of combined experience as parents at this school, as well as the vast work and volunteer experiences many of us brought to the table, gave us great insights on what the school needed for its long-term survival. International School Manila needed sustainable reforms.

No greater proof can be found that the organizational structure at the school was untenable over time than with our experience in August and September 2006, when the school's leadership team, a few Trustees, and an overwhelming majority of parents had to declare their lack of confidence in the Board of Trustees or in the individual Trustees who had composed that Board. In an unprecedented show of a type of support for their leadership team and with uncharacteristic boldness that put their own jobs at risk, the faculty voted not to conduct classes for two days until the then Board Trustees had been removed or had voluntarily resigned.

The new Board of Trustees - an Interim Board of Trustees - which we elected on September 18th, 2006 has then made it their first and primary goal to hire a professional consultant, to review our school's systems with him, and to produce its own set of recommendations not only to heal the school's divisions, but more importantly, to prevent new ones from forming going forward.

We had voted into office an Interim Board composed of a very distinguished panel of Trustees who, through their diverse experiences in business administration, management, diplomacy, and corporate governance, has done its utmost to bring us to where the School is today: in a position to revise the organizational structure at ISM so that what were effectively "visiting Superintendents and faculty" would be a thing of the past, and with great hope, be so, permanently.

The Interim Board has uploaded on the school's website the new Amended By-Laws for ISM which go way beyond the controversial amendments we were made to vote on in January 2006. (Please click here if you want to view our summary of the important sustainable reforms we have found in the new Amended By-Laws brought before us by our Interim Board.) It has done the boldest thing that no other Board before it wanted to try: a revision of the By-Laws that brings it up-to-date to the 21st Century after almost 4 decades of not even once mentioning the word "Superintendent" as the head of the school's operations, and of obfuscating the line between the Board's and the professional educational administrator's jobs.

We, at ISM Stakeholders, strongly endorse an affirmative vote on the ratification in toto of the Amended By-Laws approved and confirmed by the Interim Board on January 8th, 2007. We strongly recommend that you attend at least one of the meetings that have been arranged by the Trustees in which at least one of them will be present to answer all our questions and concerns. After which, we encourage you to pick up a proxy form and to submit this to the Corporate Secretary as the final act in what you had embarked to do with us beginning in September 2006 when you had entrusted us with another proxy form which at the time sought to remove the Trustees of a previous Board.

Among other important revisions, these new Amended By-Laws will require a vote in person on all matters that require our vote, but especially for the election of Trustees. Proxy voting and proxy gathering had been the source of most controversies at the school in the past and had caused many parents who had left for other schools to dismiss ISM as being "too political". These proxies will no longer be required after each of us CASTS OUR LAST PROXY and affirmatively votes for the ratification of the new Amended By-Laws at the Special Meeting on February 7th, 2007 being called for this purpose.

Let us be one in harnessing the full potential of International School Manila by institutionalizing sustainable reforms. Vote affirmatively for the new Amended By-Laws and this time around, CAST YOUR LAST PROXY!

NEWS

Here are the results of the Special Meeting of the Members of I.S.M. held on Monday, September 18, 2006, as certified by the independent and external auditors, KPMG (click here to see email from KPMG). Also in attendance were 2 official representatives from the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Attendance:    
 

Members present in Person
Members present by Proxy
Total Attendance

619
342
961 members
 

Official Election Results: The following were elected to the Board of Trustees (with number of votes received indicated)
 

Cu, Ernest
Delgado, Margarita
Johnson, Randy
Jones, Paul W.
Markovic, Annika
Miranda, Juan
Montinola, Aurelio III
Santos, Frederick M.
Suh, Byoung Hyun
Vohra, Sanjiv

896
888
919
918
914
906
884
892
887

905
 

The 619 members who were present in person to attend the meeting represent 51.4% of all the members of I.S.M. The total attendance of 961 members (either in person or by proxy) represents 79.8% of all the members of I.S.M.

At their organizational meeting, the Board elected the following officers: Randy Johnson, President; Margarita Delgado, First Vice President; Juan Miranda, Second Vice President; and Byoung Hyun Suh, Treasurer. Click here to read the announcement from Randy Johnson.

On 29 September, a letter from the Board announced the formation of committees and working groups, spoke about the on-going accreditation process and the renewal of the Superintendent's contract. Click here to read the letter. (Korean version)


STATEMENT OF CONCERNED I.S.M. PARENTS

We, a group of concerned I.S.M. parents, believe that International School Manila is the best school for our children. We value the way its excellent international education instills in our children a global state of mind.

We therefore urge you to join us in guaranteeing that I.S.M. continues to uphold its core beliefs.

We hope to build our school as a united I.S.M. community. Join us.

Contact us at info@ismstakeholders.com.

View a presentation on the I.S.M. successes and impediments to growth.


REFLECTIONS
Parents and teachers write on the aftermath of the the week of September 4th and on their thoughts on taking I.S.M. forward.

A Letter from Parent Mabel Manalac (30 Sep06) thanks the Board for their letter of 29 September

A Letter to the Board by Parent Edouard Miailhe (20Sep06) urges them to tackle the Superintendent issue

Preparing Parent Board Members (19Sep06) by Parent Joost Mes addresses the roles of a Trustee

Reflections (14Sep06) from Parent Dale Rutstein provides answers to Daryl Newton's concerns

Reflections (13Sep06) and concerns from Parent Daryl Newton about our upcoming decisions

Additional suggestions (11Sep06) from Parent Sridhar Sockalingam who adds to Peter Cordingley's suggested reforms

ISM: The Way Forward (10Sep06) from Parent Abid Hussain

Conflict Resolution (9Sep06) from Teacher Tim Boulton

Our Diversity and Unity Are Our Strength (9Sep06) from Parent Dale Rutstein

And Now? (8Sep06) from Parent Peter Cordingley who provides some suggested reforms

Most profound thanks (08Sep06) from a Teacher

One Parent's Apology (08Sep06) and a Teacher's Response to the Apology (08Sep06)

Congratulations from Teachers at SAS (08Sep06)

One Teacher's Thanks (07Sep06)

 

RESOURCES
Public documents, official announcements and Board correspondence from I.S.M. Click here for full list.

Message from Board re committees, accreditation and extension of superintendent's contract (29Sep06) ***Korean version

Email from newly-elected Board President Randy Johnson (19Sep06)

Email from KPMG reporting on election results (18Sep06)

Letters to and from the Philippine SEC (18Sep06)

Email from Karen Tanega confirming validation of 860 proxies (17Sep06)

Resumes of Candidates for Board of Trustees (15Sep06), from I.S.M. website; opens in new window

Notice of Special Meeting (11Sep06)

Cover letter accompanying 816 letters from Members requesting for Special Meeting (09Sep06)

Proposal from Sustaining Members (08Sep06)

Ms. Bocanegra's reply to the American Chamber of Commerce (31Jul06)

Letter from the American Chamber of Commerce requesting for disclosure of election results (02Jun06)

David Toze's speech at the Annual General Meeting
(29May06)

REBUTTAL
When anonymous blogs and email messages spread false and slanderous information, we are compelled to present messages from people willing to speak up and identify themselves.

Bob Gross, Superintendent of Singapore American School, writes about David Toze (18Sep06)

Parent Rowina Tan-Saban, former Trustee, writes regarding the land lease, the property management contract, the internet provider and the Megaworld transaction. (18Sep06)

Parent Burke Fishburn, former Trustee, writes regarding the candidates for Trustees and on David Toze (18Sep06)

Parent Rowina Tan-Saban, former Trustee, sheds information on an email sent by former teacher Robert Cook (17Sep06)

Dr. William Gerritz, Head of International School of Bangkok, writes about David Toze (15Sep06)

Mr. Humphrey Porter, Chairman of the Vienna International School (1995/96) writes about David Toze (20Nov97)

Faculty of Vienna International School write David Toze upon his decision to leave VIS

HISTORY
A summary of the significant events leading to the current situation at the School. We need your contributions. Click here to see History.

ARCHIVES
A compilation of the letters posted on this website just before the evening of September 7th. That evening, we achieved our goal of over 800 signatures.


DISCLAIMER

ISMstakeholders does not maintain nor is affiliated with any other website or blogsite. This website, http://www.ismstakeholders.com, is the only site we use. All other sites that use our name, our buttons or bear similar content to ours are not connected with us. Our site only publishes contributions that can be verified and that do not originate from anonymous email messages. We do not hide behind the easy anonymity of the web. For concerns, please email our webmaster, TG Limcaoco, at webmaster@ismstakeholders.com.