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Leopold Chen

William Yiu

The US church group that co-founded Hong Kong International School (HKIS) accepted an out-of-court payment to end a “bad marriage”, a source has told the South China Morning Post, saying their differences would have led to more litigation if the partnership had continued.
The source familiar with the settlement said the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), which sued the school for allegedly breaching its operating agreement last September, decided to part ways with the institution after finding that they had “fundamental” differences.
He told the SCMP that the settlement might give the impression that the church had filed the lawsuit for pecuniary reasons but the LCMS regarded the payment as a necessary “penalty” the school needed to pay for a number of “breaches”.
“They paid a very, very substantial penalty because they were not aligned with the Lutheran mission,” the source said.
The church had accused the school of serving only the “rich and privileged few”, violating its mission and amassing a large amount of financial reserves. The school management countered that the LCMS’ legal action was financially motivated as the church had explored multiple options to develop part of the HKIS campus in Repulse Bay into a US$1 billion commercial project.
A High Court writ earlier indicated that the plaintiff threatened to evict the school from its Repulse Bay campus, while also seeking an indemnity of US$1.75 million. The LCMS remains the current registered owner of the campus.

The source also revealed that months after LCMS filed the court writ, the school board had suggested monetary solutions for the parties to settle their dispute out of court.
“HKISAL [Hong Kong International School Association Limited] was making offers and asked if we could find some monetary way to settle this,” he said.
Both parties declined to reveal the amount of the payout. HKISAL also declined to comment on whether it had initiated the offer of a payment to settle the case.
The source described the partnership as a “bad marriage” between parties of very different natures, and said that their parting was better for the future governance of the school.
The church was “conservative and very mission-motivated”, while the school board was “formed by a group of people with strong financial, elite and prestigious backgrounds”, the source said.
“If you force somebody to make changes in their vision and the operation of the school that they really fundamentally disagree with, you will probably be back in court in three years’ time. And then three years later, you have another lawsuit.”
Ike Kutlaca, a partner at King & Wood, the law firm representing the LCMS in the disputes, also said the differences between the two parties were “fundamental”.
“This was not an ordinary corporate dispute. It involved fundamental questions of institutional identity, governance and direction that had developed over decades,” he said.
“At its most basic, the [co-founder] and operator had different views about the future of HKIS.”
The source revealed that it was the church group that had proposed inviting former Hong Kong chief justice Geoffrey Ma Tao-li to act as a mediator, describing him as “intelligent, articulate and impressive” during the mediation process.
The insider said no agreement was reached after the initial mediation session in August but added the process was “valuable and productive”.
“It was productive in that both parties did a lot of thinking about the possible exits,” the source said.
HKIS was co-founded by the LCMS and a group of American business professionals in 1966.
HKISAL was established in 1974 to manage the school according to an operating agreement with the LCMS.
The relationship between the missionary group and the association soured in 2022, leading to rounds of disputes over the management of HKIS.

The source said the filing of the lawsuit and the school management’s retention of interim school head Ron Roukema as provost were key “inflection points” that affected the negotiations.
Roukema was appointed as provost in 2015 and as interim school head two years later. He stepped down from the latter role before the start of the 2026-27 academic year after the LCMS objected to his permanent appointment on the grounds that he was not a member of the church group, but continued serving as provost.
The LCMS said in April that it would start the process of recruiting a new school head.
According to the source, Roukema’s retention as provost convinced the LCMS that even if the court ordered HKISAL to comply with its demands, the school’s management would “find some way around” the order.


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Education in Hong Kong

US church co-founder took substantial payment from HKIS to end ‘bad marriage’: source

The Hong Kong International School’s (HKIS) Tai Tam campus in Southern district. Photo: Elson Li

The church group proposed inviting former Hong Kong chief justice Geoffrey Ma to act as a mediator in its dispute with the HKIS. Photo: Nora Tam

HKIS provost Ron Roukema (right) and Harold Kim, chairman of the school’s board of managers. Photo: Sun Yeung

The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) sued the school for allegedly breaching its operating agreement last September. Photo: Dickson Lee

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City University has disciplined students involved in a disco-themed orientation camp incident after a video sparked public concern. Photo: May Tse

The video from the orientation camp went viral online. Photo: Threads

HKIS settles bitter legal row with US church co-founder with substantial payment

Hong Kong International School’s campus at Tai Tam. Management pledged that the settlement would not result in fee increases. Photo: Dickson Lee

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Hong Kong

Education

Parties’ ‘fundamental’ differences would have led to more litigation if their partnership had continued, insider tells South China Morning Post


Parties’ ‘fundamental’ differences would have led to more litigation if their partnership had continued, insider tells South China Morning Post.


United States

US church co-founder took substantial payment from HKIS to end ‘bad marriage’: source

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Parties’ ‘fundamental’ differences would have led to more litigation if their partnership had continued, insider tells South China Morning Post

Parties’ ‘fundamental’ differences would have led to more litigation if their partnership had continued, insider tells South China Morning Post