BCIS Meltdown

[Justhefacts]

BCIS, Bejing City International School, is approaching full meltdown. Recent developments have left staff stunned from the changes announced. Bill O’Hearn, Head of School, and Shawn Hutchinson, Secondary Principal, are leaving at the end of this school year, a year earlier than expected. Then Ms. An Wei, Executive Director of the Board, briefed the school staff on plans for next year. The school will become a Chinese private school and retain the current name. Any staff that are not interested in staying under local Chinese staff benefit levels will have to find other employment. The full impact of these announced changes has yet to be assessed, but it cannot be good for current foreign staff.

[wrldtrvlr123]

Wow. Too bad, if completely accurate. They seemed to have a nice little (well, medium sized) school there that offered a viable alternative to the big boys out west (e.g. nice campus, package, program etc). Some good people teaching there. A shame.

[Cheery Littlebottom]

That doesn't sound very clever. Why are admin leaving? Sounds like a bit of a coup somewhere in the background...

[interteach]

I don't know how anyone is going to be able to capitalize since BCIS is well respected and there are a lot of other schools further down the food chain. This is going to send a shiver through Beijing international schools and maybe other parts of China. I bet some won't make it.

[shadowjack]

What I mean is that other schools will go after those BCIS students and grab a chunk of them.

[over_here]

This probably has something to do with the government rules on international schools not be allowed to enrol Chinese students unless they have a foreign passport. Becoming a Chinese school will mean they can enrol all the Chinese students they like. After all, it is about making money.

[Helen Back]

I work at a school in another part of China. Our school has both local (PRC passport holders) and foreign kids. I have seven nationalities in my class, with local students making up about 40%. It can be done, but the rules and regulations will be different.

[wrldtrvlr123]

over_here wrote:
> This probably has something to do with the government rules on international schools
> not be allowed to enrol Chinese students unless they have a foreign passport. Becoming
> a Chinese school will mean they can enrol all the Chinese students they like. After
> all, it is about making money.
=================================
Actually, BCIS already had a large percentage of Chinese passport students due to some connection/arrangement between the wealthy Chinese owner and the government. Maybe that arrangement is changing/falling through and they would have had to depend on actual int'l students in the future.

I can imagine that is a business decision but whether it remains a good one is yet to be seen. Yes, they can fill their boots with all the Chinese students they want, but I doubt those parents will be paying $30K plus per year, per student if many/most of the int'l teachers leave. On the other hand Western teachers are very expensive to recruit and retain and so possibly lower fees + lower faculty overhead will = more profit.

Interesting scenario and more questions than answers at this point. If things are that dire for the western staff next year than I do feel sorry for teachers who just joined and the rest who missed the opportunity to find good jobs for next year.

[zhongguotong2003]

Ok, enough speculation on what the facts truly are. As a current BCIS teacher, I will tell you what I know.

The original poster is right, Bill O'Hearn and Shawn Hutchinson are both leaving at the end of the school year. Yes, Bill O'Hearn is leaving a year earlier than expected, that was announced after returning from winter break. Shawn Hutchinson's departure was recently announced as well. It was sudden, and a surprise to most of the secondary staff but it is not an early departure. Shawn's contract was up at the end of the school year and although his decision not to renew was sudden, it is not an early departure.

Ms. An Wei, board director, did brief the staff on changing demographics and admissions policies moving forward. There was no formal announcement of BCIS becoming a Chinese private school. BCIS has always been allowed to enrol Chinese nationals but has officially kept the cap at 25% Chinese nationals. On paper, BCIS is actually a Chinese private school that is allowed to enrol foreign nationals. NOT an international school that is allowed to enrol Chinese nationals. So technically speaking, we've always been a Chinese private school. Keeping the cap at 25% always created the appearance that we were an International school with Chinese nationals. Of course, you could argue that the number has always been higher than 25%, with plenty of Chinese students holding passports from the US, Canada, Australia, etc. but that's a whole other can of worms.

There was never any announcement to staff that they had to stay on at local staff benefit levels, or find a new job. The salary and benefit structure for expat staff has NOT changed and no one was told to seek new employment. No foreign teachers are being left high and dry. There was no talk of lowering tuition fees or moving to a model with lower tuition and lower overhead. I think BCIS is happy paying the foreign wages so they can continue charging the 30K plus tuition fees.

Staff were told that the new admissions policy, and the removal of the traditional 25% cap on Chinese nationals would likely result in a higher number of Chinese nationals attending the school. The new admissions policy will no longer look at nationality as a determining factor and will focus on academic ability, language ability and value/fit for the school.

The truth is, with changing economic climates and more expats leaving Beijing, even schools like ISB and WAB no longer have the epic waiting lists that they once had. If BCIS wants to continue operating at a decent level and wants to continue recruiting and retaining quality foreign staff, it will need the revenue from increased enrolment of Chinese nationals. That is the reality of the market in Beijing with so many schools operating but less expats working in China.

[andiohearn]

BCIS has been a private Chinese school, as well as a World IB School, offering the Primary Years Program, the Middle Years Program, and the Diploma Program to local Chinese students and ex-patriot students since it was started in 2005. The school has no plans to change the curriculum or to change the practice of hiring highly qualified expat teachers. The turnover in faculty for next year is the lowest in the school's history. The school is proud of its ability to offer a challenging curriculum to all of our students, Toddler through 12th grade. There are currently children from 47 different countries. The school is committed to attracting the best possible students and will continue to actively recruit both expats and Chinese national students who will be successful in our program.

While it is true that both Sean Hutchinson and I are leaving the school at the end of the academic year, our leaving is not connected. The school is in the process of hiring both positions for the 2015-16 academic year. Thank you for your concern.

Bill O'Hearn
Head of School
Superintendent YCE

[wrldtrvlr123]

Well, alrighty then. I guess what is said on this forum does get around and have some weight. Thank you for that additional information (which is why I try and add caveats to my comments and responses).

I would interpret those additions to mean that things are not quite as dire as first reported. The dynamic of the school may change but at the moment it does not appear that teachers will be suffering a dramatic drop in package or standard of living (although obviously that can change at any time, for any school).

As for more Chinese students and the academic standards changing for the better? Hard to see it due to the language issues since many Chinese students will come in with limited (or no) English proficiency, Also, a previous 25% cap probably didn't include students who were Chinese nationals but also had another passport. Interesting. I guess time will tell how it all shakes out.

[Justhefacts]

Just some additional items to shed more light on the situation. The responses from Zhongguotong2003 and Bill O’Hearn are noble, but somewhat disingenuous. “Shawn's contract was up at the end of the school year and although his decision not to renew was sudden, it is not an early departure.” To say that Shawn chose not to renew his contract is ludicrous. He was obviously very emotional and upset when he announced he was leaving.

The ISR moniker for the entry by Bill O’Hearn is listed as ‘andiohearn’. She is Bill’s lovely and devoted wife. She is listed as the Director of Communications and University Counseling, and she is also losing her position. He states there is currently a search for replacements for his position and that of Secondary Principal.

Normally such position announcements would be listed on Search Associates, of which BCIS is still a member. The only one listed as of February 6, 2015 is for the position of Communications Director. Ms. An Wei mentioned in her presentation that the position of Head of School and Secondary Principal would be recruited and filled locally.

There appears to be overriding economic concerns that BCIS must address. They have a responsibility to their investors. If the business model does not provide the promised returns, then the business model must be changed. This reality should not generate an emotional response since it occurs every day in the business world. The ‘not-for-profit’ status of BCIS must have some unique legal definition for the Chinese registration.

The process of changing the business model usually generates the stress and distress. There are radical changes to personal livelihoods. If contracts need to be changed to reflect the new economic realities, then they will be changed. This is a business decision that can have drastic negative consequences for the individuals involved. How much advance knowledge do you feel you deserve? Probably much more than the school owners feel you deserve.

I have done all the heavy lifting I feel I can do. Free expression of ideas has its limitations. These people can be scary. I wish my colleagues the best.

[PsyGuy]

Not always, admin searches more often go through executive level recruiters more so that SA or ISS, it depends what the school is looking for (a leader or a manager, an IS insider or an outsider), many of the better admins and HOSs were recruited from domestic organizational brought into an IS.

Most for profit schools in ISs are listed as non-profits it really doesnt mean anything, as excess revenue in a non-profit can be distributed to directors and proxys as bonus or performance compensation avoiding the label of "profit".

The real issue and its difficult to mitigate is that payroll and staffing is an ISs greatest expenses after capital projects, and BCIS isnt going to be able to command the historical tuition rates it has moving forward into the future. BCIS is a Chinese school thats throwing off the western cloak and becoming more Chinese to bring in more paying students, and maintaining/increasing revenue. When someone needs to make a buck off of education for their own pocket the education always suffers.

[zhongguotong2003]

Yes PsyGuy, I enrolled just to respond to this post. Thanks for pointing that out. You failed to point out that the original poster also enrolled just to post. Yet his information is taken as gospel. I forgot how many angry know-it-alls hung out in these forums, and that is why I usually stay away. I was just trying to clear up some of the confusion and put an end to speculation. If I have to post 3000 plus times to get some respect around here, then I wouldn't hold your breath waiting. I'm not being defensive because I'm a lurking administrator. I just didn't want to stand by and watch as the facts were distorted.

Justthefacts, I was in that meeting and I stand by the fact that An Wei never said that foreign staff would have to either accept local salary and benefits or find new jobs. I also didn't hear her say that Head of School and Secondary Principal would be recruited and filled locally.

Yes, we don't know what the future holds, and the package may have to be re-structured in the future. I may be overly optimistic in saying that there isn't any shortage of Chinese families that are willing to pony up the 30k that it takes to send their kid to BCIS. As long as we fill the seats, and the tuition remains high, there is no reason to re-structure salary and benefits.

[whoamI?]

Is China passing a law where only a certain percentage of "local Chinese students" can enrol into international schools? If so, this law is going to sink my school....

anyone have any information on this? Maybe I'l make a thread about this topic.