Our talented and hard-working Governors set the strategic direction for HTS, enabling the school to focus on core initiatives, while ensuring its long-term sustainability. In partnership with Head of School Barry Hughes, the Board determines the school’s policies and priorities, and oversees all financial and administrative functions. With their collective vision and guidance, HTS is able to fulfil its promise, holding firm to a higher standard of learning.

What is the role of HTS Board of Governors?

The HTS Board is a governing Board. Its role is one of oversight, with the overriding objective of ensuring that HTS remains viable to serve the children of today’s students. To achieve this, the Board’s responsibilities can be divided into three main areas:

• The hiring, training, support, evaluation, remuneration and, if necessary, dismissal of the Head of School
• Providing oversight and guidance to the Head to ensure that the school is following policies, compliant with relevant law and regulations, managing risk, adhering to budgets and managing resources appropriately
• Long term strategic planning to make sure that our school meets the needs of current students and that it evolves to meet the needs of future generations of HTS students

What types of issues are outside of the role of the Board?

The Board is not involved with the day-to-day operations of the school such as bussing, curriculum, discipline, faculty, co-curriculars, or building maintenance. All of these areas, as well as anything else related to daily school life, are the responsibility of the Head of School.

Who is on the Board?

The 2010 – 2011 Governors are: Summer Filgiano (Chair), Lindsay Duffield, Suzie Durigon, John Fursey (Vice Chair), Maneesh Mehta, Bob Nicholson, Rahul Shastri, , Karen Sullivan, Mark Tiffin, Nancy Vamvakas, Laura Williams, Pam Merkel, Carrie Denton and Catherine Demajo.

How does the Board work?

Much of the work is done by Committees or Task Forces of the Board, each of which is chaired by a Governor. The Committees are comprised of Governors, staff members and non-Board members, as appropriate. The Head of School and the Board Chair are members of all the Committees and Task Forces. The Committees and Task Forces report their activity to the Board and make recommendations to the Board for approval. The Board meets eight times a year between September and June.

What is the difference between a Committee and a Task Force?

A Committee has an on-going mandate with no fixed end to its term. Currently the HTS Board has four standing Committees:

• Finance and Operational Risk (with Investment and Audit sub-Committees)
• Site, Safety and Security
• Governance
• Head Support

A Task Force has a mandate for a specific project and a projected end to its term. Recent Task Forces include the Management Succession Planning Task Force (including a sub-group of the Head Search Team).

How is a Governor selected?

Each year, the Governance Committee determines the skill sets that will be required for the Board to achieve the goals that it has set for itself in the upcoming 3-5 year period. The Committee then identifies the gaps in knowledge or experience that will face the Board going forward and looks to fill those gaps. The Governance Committee gathers suggestions, makes deliberations and then recommends nominees to the various Committees of the Board. The Governance Committee is also responsible for suggesting selected Committee members to be invited to the Board.  The number of new Governors added each year depends on the number retiring from the Board.

How can one contact the Board?

If you have a question or a suggestion for the Board, please contact the Board Chair, Summer Filgiano at sfilgiano@hts.on.ca