The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) and Hong Kong International School Association Limited (HKISAL) have settled their High Court dispute, formally ending their governance and relationship arrangements on 1 September 2026. Hong Kong International School will continue operating after the settlement.
The agreement was reached through confidential mediation and includes a payment from HKISAL to LCMS. The amount and timing of the payment have not been disclosed in the reports.
According to RTHK, the school will continue to be governed by its board of managers, while its current leadership remains in place. Operations will continue at the Repulse Bay and Tai Tam campuses.
The school has said the settlement will not lead to additional tuition fees. It also said charitable donations will not be used to pay legal or settlement costs.
LCMS said the two sides had fundamental differences over the school’s future direction. The church said it would no longer provide the school with its name, reputation or other support, and would reclaim related resources. HKISAL will no longer be able to represent the school as affiliated with, connected to, endorsed or supported by LCMS.
LCMS founded Hong Kong International School in 1966. The church has said the school gradually moved away from its founding mission of providing quality education for everyone, and has criticised it as serving wealthy elites. Those are LCMS’s stated views, rather than established findings by the court.
LCMS filed the High Court case in September 2025, alleging that HKISAL had breached an operating agreement. Ming Pao reported that the dispute included disagreements over the choice of principal and tuition fees; these reported issues were not presented here as proven court findings.
LCMS said the settlement payment would support its missionary, religious, charitable and educational work in Hong Kong, Asia and other parts of the world, and that it would not make a profit from the payment.
The Church of All Nations, which is under LCMS, will continue its worship and evangelical work at the school’s Repulse Bay campus. The reports do not disclose the full settlement terms, including the precise resources being withdrawn or how this arrangement fits with HKISAL’s restrictions on describing an LCMS relationship.