Governance

HIS is registered as a school under the rules and regulations of the Japanese Gakko Hojin. These rules require HIS to have two boards; the Executive Board and the Board of Councilors. HIS is a nonprofit school and its board members volunteer their services to the school. 

The Executive Board is responsible for

• setting policy 

• financial oversight 

• hiring the Head of School
• overseeing program assessment
• long-range planning
• maintaining a relationship with the Board of Councilors as outlined by the Board of Councilor's Ground Rules

The Executive Board Submits candidates for Board membership to the Board of Councilors for approval. The Executive Board's nine members, consisting of parents and former parents, serve up to a maximum of two, three-year terms. A representative from the U.S. Consulate, and the Head of School, also hold voting seats on the Executive Board.

Posting of Executive Board Minutes

The Executive Board meets in both formal and generative meetings. Formal meetings take place 5 ~ 6 times per year and minutes are taken at each meeting. The minutes are submitted at the following formal board meeting, approved and signed. Once they are approved and signatures collected, they can be posted to the website of the school. The whole process can take up to two months to prepare before posting. Generative meetings take place approximately four times a year and are opportunities for the board to "generate" forward thinking ideas for the school. Minutes are not taken for these meetings and decisions are not made, however, ideas may be fed into future board meetings or committees. 

The Board of Councilors

The Board of Councilors (currently 24 members) meets twice a year in October and May to approve the school budgets, approve new members to both boards, approve the hiring of a new head of school, and approve major long term decisions that are proposed by the Executive Board. Board of Councilors members are selected from the broader HIS and Sapporo community from people who have a demonstrated commitment, interest, and involvement in HIS.