The British School of Costa Rica

 

The School’s owners are the Directors General and are the School’s highest authority.  They are assisted by an appointed Advisory Council. The Advisory Council is, as its name implies, an advisory body with no specific authority or liability. This Council is made up of 3-6 members “who have knowledge of and interest in the school and have, through their experience or professional expertise, the ability to offer advice and support to the school.”  A document entitled The Duties of the Advisory Council guides the members of this body. Minutes of the Advisory Council meetings are published and posted in the staff room.  The Advisory Council has evaluated the Headmaster. The Advisory Council has a self-evaluation process. The Directors General are not evaluated.

 

The Directors General have taken significant steps back from a hands-on approach and have delegated authority and control of many aspects of the enterprise to the Headmaster. They have established an Advisory Council to assist with important decisions to be made about the School.  For example, the Advisory Council suggested the addition of a new Financial Officer and the Directors General accepted this advice and added the position to the School. The school community has embraced these actions as positive and courageous moves on the part of the Directors General.

 

A meeting between members of the Advisory Council and members of the Visiting Team made it clear that the members of the Advisory Council understand their role in School governance and the limitations placed on them by the owners of the School. Even though the Advisory Council minutes are published and posted, there is not a widespread understanding of their role among members of the extended School community.  This has created some confusion among staff and parents regarding their scope of authority.

 

School communication in some areas could be improved, e.g. the exact composition and responsibility of the Advisory Council needs to be clarified and communicated to staff and parents.