Summary of the 2015 Annual General Assembly (AGM) of the Parents' Association (PA) of the European School Frankfurt (ESF) held on 24 November 2015

53 members were present.

56 members were represented by proxy, so 109 members were eligible to vote.

Tony Obisesan, President of the PA, welcomes the attending members

1. Activity report

Karl-Heinz Endres, Vice-President of the PA, presented the main activities in relation to the school and PA premises, starting with the summary of past developments: a promising meeting in Berlin in April 2014, the hosting of Pre-Primary in PA village for 6 months from September 2014, the construction of the modular building and the resulting alleviation of the situation. Germany is now officially recognising its obligation towards the school. Some work has been done in the rooms previously occupied by the Pre-Primary, which are now converted into classes and labs for the Secondary. The city of Frankfurt is looking into possible locations for a new school. Germany has commissioned a feasibility study. It is confirmed that there is no future for the school at the current location and that the Primary and Secondary should stay together.

The PA is discussing the extension of lease for its premises; it is now confirmed until the end of 2020, further extension likely. The PA will now invest: a safer fence is being built, there will be new surface made in the playground where the children play football.

Childminding situation was difficult in 2014/15, as limits of capacity in the PA village were reached. The dual use of the classrooms (lessons a.m., childminding p.m.) helped a little. When P1-P3 had no capacity left, a movie course was created. Since April 2015, when the modular building was delivered, there have been no further problems. Extra childminding staff have been recruited by the provider. The Vice-President thanked the staff for their good work and for their flexibility in accommodating all changes. Respective figures were presented.

The offer for afternoon activities was initially constrained and the number of courses couldn’t be increased due to space constraints (but did not decrease either). Now the offer can be expanded. The Vice-President thanked Klaudia Mager who takes care of afternoon activities. Again the figures were presented.

Tony Obisesan presented the information regarding transport. The numbers are increasing and bus transport is promoted by the school as the car parking space is tight. There are 200 children using the bus to get to school in the mornings, (5 lines) and 150 children use the bus to go home in the afternoon (2x2 lines). It is a challenging venture. The President thanked Felix Walderdorff for managing transport. Work on reducing delays is ongoing and discussions with the provider on how to improve the service continue. This year for the first time transport has generated a small surplus. Because some children misbehave on bus, it may be necessary in the future to incur extra costs to ensure supervision of the children on all busses unless parents work with the PA in ensuring that their children behave themselves at all times while on the bus.

In response to a question from the audience on buses being late, Felix Walderdorff explained that he is working on the matter with the school.

Geraldina Santandrea presented the activites of Interparents (IP), the umbrella organisation for all PA’s from the European Schools. A lot of discussions were held regarding the planned reorganisation of Secondary and the introduction of new marking scale. IP asked that universities be consulted to ensure entrance requirements continue to be met. An educational consultancy from London had reviewed the proposal for one year. The reform has been stopped for the time being, a new working group will be created, and discussions will last at least another year. The reform for S1-S3 has already been implemented, with minor changes, so the work focuses on S4-S7. Regarding the marking scale, the timeframe is already approved, only details remain to be negotiated. The new scale resembles that of International Baccalaureate, but while in IB the passing grade is 4, in EB it’s 3, so there is concern over possible reaction of universities.

Tony Obisesan proceeded to discuss security. Karl-Heinz Endres informs that the rules for childminding had been changed, now pickup is only possible by registered persons. Three extra security guards had been hired for the PA village and the Modular building on the school premises. Any person unknown to them has to show an ID. The policy will be reviewed after Christmas.

Question from the audience on children going to childminding by themselves – there are no extra measures foreseen, upon parents’ consent children are allowed to go on their own.

There are no concerns over security threat in Frankfurt and no school here has higher security alert than ours. All staff have an “Erweitertes Führungszeugnis” (Certificate of Good Conduct for people working with children).

2. Finances

Tony Obisesan presented the PA’s finances (with figures). The PA generated a surplus; there has been an increase in membership fees and a decrease in ECB contribution (but all required expenses covered). This year accounting has improved, we are more efficient.

3. Report of the auditors

Of the two auditors appointed last year, Friedrich Philipps had moved away from Germany but Bernhard Stricker managed to audit the books on his own and draft the report for the 2014/15 financial year, which he presented. Overall the books were in order so the auditor proposed to discharge the Board. There were no questions from the audience.

4. Discharge of the Board

The auditor suggested and requested the discharge of the Board. The request was approved unanimously by show of hands.

5. Selection of auditors for the 2015/16 financial year

Bernhard Stricker and Vlaho Kostov (whose term as Board member expires) volunteer to be the auditors for the current financial year. They were appointed unanimously.

6. Election of members of the Board

Ten candidates stood for the election for which there were seven vacant positions. The following candidates were elected or re-elected (*):

Delphine Braun (78), Doriana Brunner (54), Karl-Heinz Endres (77*), Tony Obisesan (71*), Geraldina Santandrea (97*), Mariella Spata (64), Elgin von Wedel (70*)

All elected persons individually accepted their election. According to the Statutes, the distribution of responsibilities will be decided at the next Board meeting.

7. Changes to PA Statutes

Tony Obisesan introduced the reasons for the proposed changes to the Statues, that have been sent to all members with the invitation more than 2 weeks in advance. As for the rationale, the proposed changes were mainly driven by a request from the tax authority to add clarification/rewording where necessary, without changing the substance of the Statues themselves. It was however recalled that the German version is the legally binding one and hence Karl-Heinz Endres and Felix Walderdorff presented the detailed changes to the different sections on the statues in German.

A question was raised on the individual versus family membership in relation to Article 2(a); it was suggested to discuss it under item 7 of the agenda. Then members were invited to vote on the changes; by show of hands, all members supported the changes. There was no abstention.

8. GmbH

Tony Obisesan introduced the topic of creating a limited liability company (GmbH); this proposal is based on past recommendations from the auditors and was put forward in order to address:

1. the liability that is presently incumbent to the Board members in case of loss,
2. the growing volume of work and
3. the increase in funds handled by the PA.

The proposal is that the future GmbH would be owned by the PA. It would be responsible for the services currently provided by the PA (childminding, afternoon activities, transport). The manager of the GmbH would report to an advisory board consisting of 2 members of the PA Board and one representative of the ECB.

The PA will aim for the GmbH to have a charitable status but has to obtain an approval from the German tax authorities.

Several members expressed their concerns and regretted the lack of detailed information on a matter on which they were asked to vote. The members raised several questions, on which the PA gave the following clarifications/explanations:

1. One member queried on tax issue concerning the limited liability company; it was clarified that even a charitable GmbH would have to pay tax and VAT according to German law. The status of the PA would remain unchanged.
2. On the question on whether there will be additional costs, it was explained that since additional staff would be hired, there would indeed be additional costs.
3. It is envisaged that the GmbH will have a manager and staff as needed who would report to and be controlled by the PA Board and the ECB.
4. On the question as who would define the scope of services provided by the GmbH, it was clarified that the PA would propose new services based on the needs of the school community, with equal treatment among pupil categories. The objective is to transfer part of the existing services offered by the PA (childminding, transport, afternoon activities) to the GmbH.
5. One member emphasised the PA should provide the necessary background information in order for the members to make an informed decision.

Peter Rennpferdt as representative of the ECB further explained the rationale behind the proposal; this includes auditing needs and professional accounting. There is a need for enhanced transparency on the subsidised item and this includes access to all information on services run by the GmbH to ensure that criteria are adhered to; as an example, there should be no economic advantage in the provision of childminding services in comparison to other offers available in the Frankfurt area.

From a statutory point of view, the school is not allowed to offer such services.

In conclusion the below next steps were agreed upon unanimously by the members by show of hands:

1. the Board seeks clarification from tax authorities on creation of the GmbH;
2. the members give their agreement to the PA to define the structure of the GmbH
3. once finalised, the PA will call an extraordinary General Meeting to approve the structure of the GmbH that should outline the scope and scale; legal form; tax implications; governance structure including the PA, especially the influence point with the PA.

9. Canteen

Some parents are dissatisfied with the quality of the food and asked what the PA is going to do about it. Discussions have been held with the provider and will continue. Parents want to be kept informed. As a next step, a survey will be conducted by the provider. Results will be presented to all parents as it is necessary to also take into account the views of those parents that are satisfied with the quality of the food & services provided at the canteen. Feedback to be presented at the next Canteen Committee.

The following answers from the canteen committee that had been received in response to questions received from a group of parents' were communicated:

How is a good quality of the food for our children ensured continuously?

Food quality is defined in the contract dated 13 June 2015. The provider has to provide his services taking these provisions into account.

Who checks how and when if the contractual obligations according to annex 10 of the contract are fulfilled by the provider?

The contractee (ESF) does not have time or resources to continuously monitor adherence to qualitative provisions in the contract. In addition the contractee cannot provide a person with the necessary qualification. The biannual Canteen Committee meetings are called to reconcile adherence to the contract and customer satisfaction. Menüpartner has suggested to employ an external consultant company, DeDiE, to control and comment the menu plans. The results will be sent to the school management. DeDiE will have a consulting function. No cost will be incurred until the end of the 2015/16 school year. All members of the Canteen Committee have agreed to this procedure while remarking that the customers' taste preferences must not be neglected. In the first Canteen Committee meeting to be held in 2016/17 the procedure will be assessed or another solution will need to be found. For Primary a punctual satisfaction survey using a “simple system“ has been agreed on. Menüpartner will launch a simple questionnaire in December 2015.

Who implements successful correction to deviations and until when will the agreed quality level be reached again?

Corrective actions imply deviations from the contract which we cannot confirm at present. When worried parents made comments at the end of the last school year Menüpartner reacted immediately. The Canteen Committee has found Menüpartner to be a flexible, committed and reliable partner and values the level and successful cooperation over the past two years.

How will parents be informed about results of audits and corrective actions?

A proactive communication to parents beyond the Canteen Committee is not planned by the school.

The PA proposes to try and improve communications to all parents on canteen related issues by requesting feedback from parents before Canteen Committee meetings , as is the current practice with the Pedagogical Committees, and inform them on the outcome of the meetings accordingly.

10. Questions & answers

11. Miscellaneous

No other issues are raised.

The President thanks all attending members.

The assembly closed at 22:40.