Bylaws
Of
Old Union Elementary School
PTO
October 2006
Article I – Name
The name of this organization shall be the Old Union Elementary School PTO, Inc. It shall be referred to in these bylaws as the “OUES PTO”.
Article II – Purpose
The OUES PTO is organized for the purpose of supporting the education of children at Old Union Elementary School by fostering relationships among the school, parents, and teachers.
Article III –
Members
Section 1. Any parent, guardian, or other adult standing in loco parentis for a student currently enrolled at Old Union Elementary may be a member and shall have voting rights. The principal, vice principal, and any teacher or staff member employed at the school may be a member and have voting rights.
Section 2. Dues, if any, will be established by the Executive Board. If dues are charged, a member must have paid his or her dues at least 14 calendar days before the meeting to be considered a member in good standing with voting rights. After dues have been paid by an eligible candidate for membership, that candidate shall become a member of the OUES PTO and shall be entitled to one vote at general OUES PTO meetings. In the case of parent members, membership is held by the family of the OUES student, entitling each family living together to one vote and one listing in the OUES PTO directory. If more than one family member wishes to vote at the general OUES PTO meetings, or if the parents are not living at the same address and would like a separate directory listing, the additional parent must pay dues for another PTO membership.
An annual membership drive shall be conducted from August through September. Membership is available on an ongoing basis and dues will be prorated after January 1 for families new to OUES PTO membership. Memberships shall be valid until the end of the school year and must be renewed each year to remain active.
Article IV –
Officers, Committee Chairs and Elections
Section 1. Officers. The officers shall be a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, vice president of disbursements, vice president of volunteers, vice president of operations, vice president of fundraising and vice president of programs.
a. President. The president shall preside over meetings of the organization and Executive Board, serve as the primary contact for the principal, represent the organization at meetings outside the organization, serve as an ex officio member of all committees except the nominating committee, and coordinate the work of all the officers and committees so that the purpose of the organization is served.
b. Vice President. The vice president shall assist the president and carry out the president’s duties in his or her absence or inability to serve. The vice president shall serve as Parliamentarian at all OUES PTO Executive Board and general meetings. As Parliamentarian, the vice president shall have parliamentary authority, and shall ensure that the organization is governed by Robert’s Rules of Order, Revised in all applicable cases. The Vice President shall be keeper of the bylaws and shall update and revise the bylaws with the approval of the PTO Executive Board.
c. Secretary. The secretary shall keep all records of the organization, take and record minutes, prepare the agenda, handle correspondence, and provide notice of the meetings to the membership. The secretary shall also keep a copy of the minutes book, bylaws, rules, membership list, and any other necessary supplies, and bring them to meetings.
d. Treasurer. The treasurer shall receive all funds of the organization, keep an accurate record of receipts and expenditures, and pay out funds in accordance with the approval of the Executive Board. He or she will present a financial statement at every meeting and at other times of the year when requested by the Executive Board, and make a full report at the end of the year. The treasurer is also responsible for filing necessary tax forms with the IRS and Texas State Comptroller’s office and ensuring proper insurance coverage for the OUES PTO annually.
e. Vice President – Disbursements. The vice president – disbursements shall be responsible for soliciting and receiving requests for OUES PTO funds from the OUES PTO membership. Upon receipt of a disbursement request, this officer is responsible for consultation with the principal regarding the request and then must consult with the Executive Board regarding the propriety of the request. If necessary, the vice president-disbursements is then responsible for placement of the disbursement request on the agenda for the following general PTO meeting for vote by the general membership. This vice president must then provide a prompt response to the member regarding the consideration of the request.
f. Vice President – Fundraising. This vice president shall oversee the committees responsible for the auction, the gift wrap fundraiser, the community partner fundraiser, the spirit shop and any other fundraisers initiated by the OUES PTO. This vice president shall act as the contact person for all OUES fundraising activities. This vice president will provide any support needed to the fundraising committees and ensure that these committees regularly report to the vice president-fundraising. At the beginning of the school year this vice president shall also prepare budget reports for all committees reporting to this vice president based on previous financial data as well as current financial data provided by committee chairs to be included in the annual overall OUES PTO budget.
g. Vice President – Operations. This vice president shall oversee the services that the OUES PTO offers through the following committees: membership, directory, landscaping, audit and communications. This vice president will provide any support needed to the committees and ensure that these committees regularly report to the vice president-operations. At the beginning of the school year this vice president shall also prepare budget reports for all committees reporting to this vice president based on previous financial data as well as current financial data provided by committee chairs to be included in the annual overall OUES PTO budget.
h. Vice President – Programs. This vice president is responsible for overseeing the student programs, parent programs, yearbook, math masters, reading buddies, library buddies committees, providing any support needed and ensuring that these committees regularly report to the vice president-programs. At the beginning of the school year this vice president shall also prepare budget reports for all committees reporting to this vice president based on previous financial data as well as current financial data provided by committee chairs to be included in the annual overall OUES PTO budget.
i. Vice President – Volunteers. This vice president shall recruit and coordinate parent volunteers. This vice president shall also provide opportunities to volunteer at the meet-the-teacher event and at other times throughout the school year. The following committees will report directly to the vice president-volunteers: hospitality, homeroom parent coordinators, teacher luncheons, teacher snacks and special events. This vice president will provide any support needed to the committees and ensure that these committees regularly report to the vice president-volunteers. At the beginning of the school year this vice president shall also prepare budget reports for all committees reporting to this vice president based on previous financial data as well as current financial data provided by committee chairs to be included in the annual overall OUES PTO budget.
Section 2. Committee Chairs. The following committees shall be held by the organization and overseen by a Committee Chair:
a. Committees overseen by Vice President of Fundraising
1. Auction (with sub-committees of event, operations and donations). This committee is responsible for the planning and execution of the auction fundraiser. The event chair is responsible for securing the location of the auction, decorations, creating tickets and setting the ticket price of the event, providing entertainment and an auctioneer, creating t-shirts, creating the cover of the auction catalog, coordinating logistics on the night of the event, setting out the donation items and closing down the event. The operations chair is responsible for collecting deposits and expenses, ticket sales, t-shirt sales, writing newsletter reports, confirming that bid sheets match the appropriate items, laying out bid sheets, picking up bid sheets, posting winners at the auction’s conclusion and check out. The donation chair is responsible for classroom projects, teacher donations, parent donations, outside donations, CISD donations, logging in all donations, creating a file of donation certificates for closing, set up and scheduling winning bid activities, creating the auction catalog, creating bid sheets and preparing thank you notes at the auction’s conclusion.
2. Gift Wrap. This committee is responsible for the gift wrap fundraiser typically held in the fall of each school year. The committee is responsible for the distribution of sales information to the school, promoting the event, and coordinating orders of gift wrap and maintaining accurate records related to gift wrap sales.
3. Spirit Shop. This committee is responsible for the sale of “spirit” items at OUES throughout the year. The chair is responsible for coordinating volunteers to work in the spirit shop, ordering merchandise to be sold in the shop, ensuring prompt delivery of the merchandise, maintaining accurate financial records related to spirit shop sales and working within the budget set by the PTO.
4. Community Partners. This committee is responsible for
distributing enrollment information related to any local businesses that offer
reward benefits to customers.
b.
Committees overseen by Vice President of
Operations
1. Communications (with sub-committees of marquee, newsletter and electronic) This committee is responsible for updating the OUES marquee with current school information, producing the OUES PTO newsletter, and sending electronic news as approved by the vice president—operations and principal.
2. Directory (with
subcommittees of database and advertising).
The database
subcommittee committee is responsible for maintaining the OUES PTO database to include
the names of OUES PTO parent members and children, addresses, phone numbers,
email addresses and classroom assignments. In addition, this database
should include information related to PTO parent payments for such activities
as PTO membership and directories, yearbook, art auction, teacher luncheons,
and any other relevant PTO activities. It is anticipated that this
database may be expanded at some point in the future to contain volunteer
information. In addition, this subcommittee is responsible for providing
the information necessary to produce the OUES PTO directory. This
involves ongoing discussions/communication with the vendor and an evaluation
of proofs as necessary. The advertising
subcommittee is responsible, in coordination with other schools as necessary,
for soliciting advertising to subsidize the cost of the OUES PTO directory.
3. Membership. The membership committee is responsible for soliciting new members for the OUES PTO. The membership committee is responsible for conducting an annual membership drive at the beginning of the school year and soliciting additional new members at PTO events throughout the school year.
4. Landscaping. This committee is responsible for gardening and maintenance of the OUES campus in coordination with the OUES staff.
5. Audit. This committee is responsible for undertaking an independent review of all of the financial records of the OUES PTO. The committee should review the financial records regularly and provide a written report to the Executive Board annually.
c. Committees
overseen by Vice President of Programs
1. Library Buddies. This committee is responsible for all student and parent correspondence related to the library buddy program. The committee chair should work with the librarian to coordinate the library buddy program throughout the year and maintain a file regarding participation in the program and monies received.
2. Math Masters. This committee organizes the math lab. The math lab offers timed math testing/grading for all students as needed. The committee is responsible for scheduling parent volunteers for the math masters program.
3. Reading Buddies. This committee coordinates the Reading Buddies program working with the Vice President-volunteers and the homeroom parent coordinators to ensure that all classes have the requisite number of volunteers and that the program is implemented appropriately.
4. Student Programs. This committee is responsible for researching and coordinating the presentation of programs for the benefit of the OUES student body. The student program chair should seek grants to subsidize the cost of these programs and should attempt to coordinate the programs with the OUES curriculum.
5. Parent Programs. This committee is responsible for researching and presenting programs of interest to the parents of OUES students. This committee is also responsible for securing and scheduling speakers for the monthly OUES PTO general meetings.
d. Committees
overseen by Vice President of Volunteers
2. Hospitality. This committee is responsible for extending hospitality on behalf of the OUES PTO to any distressed families as identified by the OUES counselor, and extending a welcome to all families new to OUES. The committee should provide a welcome packet of information to new students and host new parent events. This committee is also responsible for providing refreshments at designated PTO events.
Section 3. Nominations and Elections. Each school year a nominating committee shall be selected by the Executive Board in its discretion. The Executive Board will seek volunteers to serve on the nominating committee which shall be comprised of two representative parents from each grade level. At least one of the representative parents shall be an Executive Board member. In addition to the Executive Board member who is sitting as a representative parent, the vice president shall act as chair of the nominating committee.
The principal or her designate shall sit as an ex officio member entitled to share opinions and suggestions and attend all nominating committee meetings, but not entitled to vote on the nominations.
This nominating committee shall select candidates for the Executive Board and chairs of existing committees, as it deems appropriate. Initially, the nominating committee will solicit candidates for all positions from all OUES parents. If this initial solicitation does not produce a sufficient number of candidates, the nominating committee will directly contact individuals it believes would be qualified to hold the existing open positions. The nominating committee shall present the slate of nominees at the OUES PTO April general meeting.
Elections will be held at the OUES PTO May general meeting. At that meeting, nominations may also be made from the floor. Voting shall be by voice vote if a slate is presented. If more than one person is running for an office, a ballot vote shall be taken.
Section 4. Eligibility. Members are eligible for office if they are members in good standing at least 14 calendar days before the nominating committee presents its slate.
Section 5. Terms of Office. Officers are elected for one year and may serve no more than two (2) consecutive terms in the same office. Executive Board members may only serve in one Executive Board position.
Upon election, an Officer or Committee Chair’s term in office shall run from the day after the conclusion of the school year until the conclusion of the following school year. Each officer and committee chair shall keep all information and papers pertaining to his/her duties and will relinquish them to the PTO upon completion of his/her term, resignation, or removal from office.
Section 6. Vacancies. If there is a vacancy in the office of president, the vice president will become the president. At the next regularly scheduled meeting, a new vice president will be elected. If there is a vacancy in any other office, members will fill the vacancy through an election at the next regular meeting.
Section 7. Removal From Office. Officers and Committee Chairs can be removed from office with or without cause by a two-thirds vote of those present (assuming a quorum) at a regular meeting where previous notice has been given.
Article V –
Executive Board
Section 1.
Membership. The Executive Board shall consist of the officers listed in
Article IV. The Old Union
Elementary School principal or his/her designated representative and the
immediate past president of the OUES PTO shall be ex-officio members of the
Executive Board. As such, they are
entitled to participate in meetings, discussions and other Executive Board and
PTO activities, but shall not be entitled to vote on Executive Board
matters. Upon request of the president,
the immediate past president may be available to the Executive Board to assist
in understanding the activities and goals of the prior Executive Board and to
offer guidance as requested by the current Executive Board.
Section 2. Duties. The duties of the Executive Board shall be to transact business between meetings in preparation for the general meeting, create standing rules and policies, create standing and temporary committees, prepare and submit a budget to the membership, approve routine bills, and prepare reports and recommendations to the membership.
Section 3. Meetings. Executive Board meetings shall be held monthly, on the first Thursday of each month at 9:00 a.m., or at any other regular time determined by the Executive Board. Special meetings may be called by the president or any two other Executive Board members, with 24 hours notice.
Section 4. Quorum. Half the number of Executive Board members plus one constitutes a quorum. If a quorum is not present at an Executive Board meeting, voting by e-mail following conclusion of the meeting is permissible. Executive Board positions may be shared, but each position is entitled to only one vote.
Article VII –
Committee Membership and Formation
Section 1. Membership. Committees may consist of members and Executive Board members, with the president acting as an ex officio member of all committees, except the nominating committee. Each Committee shall have a chair, who will be considered a board member of the OUES PTO. Committee Chair positions may be shared.
Section 2. Additional Committees. The Executive Board may appoint additional committees as needed.
Article V –
Meetings
Section 1. Regular Meetings. The regular general meeting of the OUES PTO shall be on the third Thursday of each month during the school year at 9:00 a.m., or at a time and place determined by the Executive Board at least one month before the meeting. The annual meeting will be held at the May regular meeting. The annual meeting is for receiving reports, electing officers, and conducting other business that should arise. The secretary will notify the members of the meetings in a timely manner.
Section 2. Special Meetings. Special meetings may be called by the president, any two members of the Executive Board, or five general members submitting a written request to the secretary. Previous notice of the special meeting shall be sent to the members at least 10 days prior to the meeting, by flyer, e-mail, and/or phone calls as deemed appropriate
Article VIII –
Finances
Section 1. A tentative budget shall be drafted in the fall for each school year and approved by a majority vote of the members present at the second general meeting of the school year.
Section 2. The treasurer shall keep accurate records of any disbursements, income, and bank account information.
Section 3. The Executive Board shall approve all expenses of the organization. The Executive Board may approve all non-budgeted items, under $500, requiring immediate attention due to time constraints. This approval may be procured by e-mail vote. The general membership must approve all expenses over $500.
Section 4. Two
authorized signatures shall be required on all checks. Authorized signers shall
be the president, treasurer, and principal.
Section 5. The treasurer shall prepare a financial statement at the end of the year, to be reviewed by the Audit Committee.
Section 6. Upon the dissolution of the organization, any remaining funds should be used to pay any outstanding bills and, with the membership’s approval, spent for the benefit of the school.
Section 7. The fiscal year shall coordinate with the school year. The treasurer shall comply with all applicable federal and state laws regarding the availability and maintenance of financial records.
Article IX –
Parliamentary Authority
Robert’s Rules of Order shall govern meetings when they are not in conflict with the OUES PTO’s bylaws.
Article X –
Standing Rules
Standing rules may be approved by the Executive Board, and the secretary shall keep a record of the standing rules for future reference.
Article XI –
Dissolution
The organization may be dissolved with previous notice (14 calendar days) and a two-thirds vote of those present at the meeting.
Article XII –
Amendments
These bylaws may be amended at any regular or special meeting, providing that previous notice was given in writing at the prior meeting and then given to all members of the OUES PTO by the secretary. Notice may be given by postal mail, e-mail, fax or flyer sent home with OUES students. Amendments will be approved by a two-thirds vote of those present, assuming a quorum.
Section 1. All information and correspondence sent to OUES parents, students or staff, via e-mail or paper, must be approved by the Principal and/or Assistant Principal
Section 2. The name of the OUES PTO or the names of any members in their official capacities shall not be used in any connection with a commercial concern or with any partisan, religious, or political interest, or for any other purpose than the regular work of the OUES PTO.
Section 3. Insurance coverage (for all officers, directors and liability) must be renewed each year and maintained current. The treasurer must also be properly bonded through a licensed insurance bonding agency.
Section 4. All Executive Board members and committee chairs are expected to attend the OUES PTO monthly general meeting
Section 5. The OUES PTO shall neither seek to direct the
administrative activities of Old Union Elementary nor to control its policies.
Section 6. Notwithstanding any
other provision in these bylaws, no director, officer, employee or
representative of the OUES PTO shall take any action or carry on any activity
by or on behalf of the OUES PTO not permitted to be taken by an organization
exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.