The Board of Governors of the International School of Geneva decided without consultation to move all students in classes 10 through 13 from La Grande Boissiere and La Chataigneraie to a new campus to be constructed in Grand Saccconex, near the airport.

Subject: FW: A few notes on the Extraordinary Consultative General Assembly - November 28th at the United Nations in Geneva

About 900 persons attended the meeting which took place at the Palais des Nations, November 28th from 7.30 pm to 00.30 am., many of whom were anglophone parents from La Chat. (Simultaneous translation was provided).

The audience was almost exclusively composed of people against the 10-13 Campus project and supporting a 1-13 new campus. Apart from the Board, the heads of the CDGs (i.e.,"Campus Develpment Group"), PTA members, and students from La Chat who gave a powerpoint presentation indicating that 75% of students were opposed to a 10-13 campus that they would have to move to, 30 inidviduals took the floor of which 8 were alumni (Matt Cooper, Robert Schmoll, Deborah Henly, Dany Konikoff, Jeniffer McDermott, David Rimer, Jeremy Lack, Hélène Durand Ballivet, and the president of the CDG Pregny/Rigot).

The Chairman of the Board insisted on the fact that the final decision had not been taken. Les membres du Board ont été sur la défensive pendant toute la soirée et ont fini par être divisés sur les suites à donner à cette soirée. Une grande tension émotionnelle a emprunt les déclarations des parents comme celles des professeurs et des élèves.

Le Board a conclu en déclarant qu'à sa séance de décembre il examinerait les conséquences à tirer de cette réunion, qu'il fixerait la procédure de consultation des 3 CDG ainsi que de l'Association des Anciens. Plusieurs anciens membres du Board qui ont assisté à la séance ont demandé au Président que "in the days to come" des réponses claires soient apportées aux questions financières, de procédure, ou d'opportunité pédagogique et socio-éducatives soulevées par les participants. C'est de ces réponses que doit dépendre le choix entre les deux options en présence [un campus conviviale de 1 à 13 permettant une éducation différenciée et décentralisée (qui est largement défendu par les parents présents à la soirée) et un campus spécialisé et centralisé "une usine à examens" (tel que proposé par le Board)] et non pas le contraire.

Trois membres du Comité central des Anciens ont pris la parole :

Hélène : Les anciens sont très intéressés par cette assemblée générale extraordfinaire; 200 d'entre eux ont pris part à un vote; 166 se sont exprimé contre le projet du Board. Elle a demandé donc à ce que les anciens soient représentés dans les procédures de consultation avec les Campus Development Groups. Réponse du Président : Je suis d'accord; vous serez invité à participer à la procédure de consultation avec les 3 CDG au nom de tous les anciens.

David : Si le Board n'a pas jugé utile d'inclure jusqu'à récemment les Anciens dans les procédures de consultation c'est qu'il manque un Board of Trustees qui représente l'histoire et la vision à long terme de l'Ecole à travers ses Anciens. Ce Board of Trustees devrait contrôler un "endowment". Le Board of Trustees, composé d'anciens serait l'interlocuteur du Foundation Board pour traiter des questions d'investissement intéressant la Fondation; ainsi les Anciens seraient reconnus comme partenaires du Board au sein de la Fondation. Mais pour cela il faut que le Board donne la parole aux anciens, sinon ceux-ci ne chercheront jamais à constituer un "endowment".

Jeremy : He explained the importance of Ecolint to him, not only as an alumnus but also as a parent of two children at LGB. Although he commended the board members for their time and efforts in finding an affordable campus in an excellent location, he was critical of the 10-13 campus concept based on what he had heard that evening, and was especially critical of the consultation process, which showed a remarkable lack of transparency. Based on the appearance and reactions of the 900 people in the hall that evening, the Board should realise that popular opinion was strongly opposed to a 10-13 campus, if only on the basis that "if it's not broken, don't fix it". The LGB, La Chat and Pregny campuses should benefit from, but not be damaged by the creation of a new campus. He noted that since an architectural competition had already been initiated for a 10-13 campus in October, the competition should be changed ASAP to include tenders for a 1-13 campus, if indeed no final decision had been made. He also suggested that the Board consider using the internet to post all of its board minutes and initial feasability studies regarding the new campus, so that the decision making process could be better understood by all.

Finally, he commented that the school has historically failed to involve all stakeholders in its decision making processes. This included teachers, students, alumni, campus managers and local corporations and supporters of the school. He supported the creation of a Board of Trustees suggesting that it could could act as a "Comité des sages".

Danny Konikoff, an alumnus, former board member, and parent of two students at LGB also added the important observation that he did not believe that the Board had the authority to make a decision for a 10-13 campus based on a simple majority of board votes, as it had done. This comment, based on the School's Charter, came as a surprise to several Board members.

Réponses : Pas de réponse au sujet du Board of Trustees; il était trop tard pour changer le concours, et que l'installation d'un réseau INTERNET et INTRANET est en cours, mais ne serait pas pret avant 1 mois.

Overall, the evening was a very important occasion, reminding all present of the uniqueness of the ECOLINT spirit, and what it means for all. It was clear that the Board, which is comprised of hard working and civic-minded individuals, was caught by surprise by the outburst about their decision, and realised that they had made a mistake in not consulting sufficiently. The spontaneous "real-time" reactions of the audience to the various speakers and answers given (e.g., clapping, booing and occasional outright laughter) were the most effective form of communication, leading the Board to understand how stongly opposed the people in the room were to the creation of a new campus for 10-13 grades only, that would take all senior secondary students away from LGB and La Chat.

The Board concluded by saying that they would meet again next week, and take into account the important feedback that they had received that evening. They could not comment, however, on how or when they would communicate back to the audience.