Conerly Road School

PTO By-Laws

Article I. Name and Organization

The name of this organization is the Conerly Road School Parent Teacher Organization (PTO), a non-profit organization. These By-Laws shall serve in lieu of any articles, organization or constitution.

Article II. Purposes

  1. To encourage enthusiastic interest in the school and the welfare of its students and staff.
  2. To lend support to the students and staff in providing additional educational experiences.
  3. To encourage communication and understanding between teachers and parents.
  4. To encourage parental involvement in the educational process.

Article III. Membership and Dues

The PTO is made up of Members and Voting Members. All parents/ guardians and staff of the Conerly Road School community are Members of the PTO and may volunteer in any activities supported by the PTO and may attend General Business meetings.Voting Membership in thePTOshall be open to all Members for a nominal annual voting membership fee which will be collected and used for carrying out the purposes of the PTO. This fee shall cover up to two parents or guardians of each Conerly Road School student. Should one family have more than one child in the school, only one fee must be paid for a Voting Membership. Voting Membership registration closes on January 31st. Members can not register to vote after January 31st and unless the fee is paid by January 31st, are not entitled to vote regarding general business or in the elections of officers for the upcoming school year. This is not to include parents/guardians of new students or staff members entering Conerly Road School after January 31st.

Article IV. Officers – Their Election and Installation

Paragraph #1: The PTO shall be managed by an Executive Board consisting of the following Elected Officers and non-elected members:

  1. President (Elected)
  2. First Vice President – Daytime Programs (Elected)
  3. Second Vice President – Fundraising (Elected)
  4. Third Vice President – Community Events (Elected)
  5. Communications Secretary (Elected)
  6. Recording Secretary (Elected)
  7. Treasurer(Elected)
  8. Committee Chairpersons (Appointed)
  9. Teacher Representatives (Appointed)
  10. Principal (non-voting)

Paragraph #2: The Executive Board shall not have more than 50% of its voting members deriving income from the Franklin Township Board of Education.

Paragraph #3: Due to possible conflict of interest, no member of the Board of Education shall hold an ExecutiveBoard member position in this organization.

Paragraph #4: Executive Board members must be fully paid-up Voting Members.

Paragraph #5: All offices and chairs may be held jointly.

Paragraph #6: Elected Officervacancies that occur during the course of the year in elected positions will be voted on as per Article IV Paragraph #11and Article VI Paragraphs# 3, #4 and #5. If necessary, the President can appoint an acting officer until a vote can be taken.

Paragraph #7: In no later than March, the President shall appoint a Nominating Committee chairpersonto form a nominating committee (consisting of a minimum of two members including the chairperson) to solicit volunteers for PTO Elected Officer positions. Nominations must be presented to the Board in writing at the May meeting. Parent/Guardians of incoming students to Conerly Road School are eligible to run for positions on the Board. These parents/guardians are not eligible to vote until the commencement of the new PTO fiscal year and once membership dues are paid.

Paragraph #8: Nominations from the floor will be accepted at the May General Business meeting. All persons nominated must have given their consent prior to nomination.

Paragraph #9: Voting on the Elected Officers for the following year will take place at the June meeting of the organization. The new President shall officially appoint the chairpersons and Teacher Representative at the September meeting.

Paragraph #10: The membership must be notified in writing one week prior to the date of the election as to the candidate(s) and the time and place of the election.

Paragraph #11: Elections of officers will be as per Article VI paragraphs #3, #4 and #5. Only paid members are eligible to vote. Officers’ terms run concurrently with the organization’s fiscal year.

Paragraph #12: Officers shall be installed at the June board meeting. This meeting is presided over by the out-going president. At this June meeting a special transition meeting of outgoing and in-coming Executive Board members shall be scheduled. The special transition meeting shall take place no later than July 1st.

Paragraph #13: All books, records, supplies or other materials necessary for the new Executive Board to conduct the business of the organization shall be surrendered to the new President by July 1st.

Article V. Duties of Executive Board Members

The President/Co-President shall preside at all membership meetings; prepare an agenda; represent the school on the President’s Council; act as liaison between the school staff and the PTO; see that all books, reports and certificates as needed are properly kept or filed; have the power to sign checks or drafts along with the Treasurer; and in conjunction with the Budget Committee and the Treasurer, prepare the budget.

The Vice Presidents shall act as aides to the President and, in their designated order, perform the duties of the President in the absence or the inability of that officer to serve.

The First Vice President shall be in charge of daytime programs specifically assembly programs.

The Second Vice President shall be in charge of fundraising and overseeing the activities of the chairpersons for the individual fundraisers.

The Third Vice President shall be in charge of community activities, and overseeing the activities of the chairpersons for the individual community activities and attend to all gift and card purchases of the organization.

The Communication Secretary shall be in charge of communication including but not limited to doing or overseeing the following; serving all notices to members of the organization, coordinating website updates with BOE website rep, Executive Board, Chairs, and CRS Administration; PTO Today automated communication with CRS families; and posting info on the CRS PTO Bulletin Board.

The Recording Secretaryshall keep the minutes and records of the organization; distribute minutes to the membership at subsequent meetings and to Executive Board members who are absent. The Secretary will also maintain on file in the school’s Main Office the Minutes of the fiscal year and the organization’s By-laws.

The Treasurer shall be solely responsible for the monies of the PTO; maintain all financial records; pay all bills; submit monthly written reports on the finances of the PTO; and in conjunction with the Budget Committee and the President prepare a budget for the PTO. The Treasurer has authorization to exceed any approved expenditure budgeted item, with the exception of Grant or Gift items, by 10% or $50.00, whichever is less, without further motion or approval by the voting membership. All bank statements must be addressed to the school, reviewed, dated and initialed by another Elected Officer, who is not an authorized signer on the account, prior to forwarding to the Treasurer.

Chairpersons shall be responsible for all of the monies budgeted to their accounts; initial all expense reports charging expenses to their accounts; provide the Treasurer with an expenses report within 2 weeks of incurring the expenses, provide the Treasurer with an event deposits within 2 weeks of the event closing date; report on their activities to the membership at General Meetings; and maintain a written account of the manner in which their duties have been carried out, this record which will become a part of the official organization’s records and should include: costs, contacts, timings, committee members, publicity and recommendations for improving same in the future. All Chairpersons must be Voting Members.

Principal.The Principal of the school shall act as an advisor to the board and representative of the school district.

Teacher Representative. The faculty shall be represented by a teacher(s), as Teacher Representative, who will act as liaison(s) between the PTO and Conerly Road School staff. The Teacher Representative will keep both bodies apprised of all activities and pertinent information which may be disseminated or upon which action must be taken. The Teacher Representative(s)must be a Voting Member and is responsible for collecting PTO dues from the staff.

Article VI. Meetings

Paragraph #1.There shall be at least six General Business meetings each year. The date for these meetings will be entered into the school calendar for September. The membership will decide these dates at the last General Business Meeting in June. Additional meetings shall be held whenever deemed necessary by the executive board and shall be published to the membership one week in advance of the meeting.

Paragraph #2. The purpose of the General Business meetings is to:

  1. Conduct the organization’s business
  2. Prepare and submit to the membership a budget for the organization
  3. Approve un-budgeted expenditures
  4. To appoint a bookkeeper or committee to examine the books of the organization
  5. Create standing and special committees, and
  6. Approve plans and work of standing and special committees.

Paragraph #3: At a General Business Meeting, a quorum shall consist of a simple majority (half plus one) of the elected Officers. All dues paying voting members present at a General Business meeting, at which a quorum is met, can vote on matters brought before the board.

Paragraph #4: Outside a General Business meeting, a quorum shall consist of a simple majority of any elected Officers and/or standing Committee Chairpersons. Urgent business that shall arise between General Business meetings that require a vote will be made known to the membership with an agenda provided. A Chairperson whose area of responsibility is affected by such a vote can insist that the vote be postponed to the next General Business meeting so that a full discussion can occur prior to the vote. A record of whom has voted and the vote tally must be made and reported by the recording secretary at the next General Meeting. This record will be appended to the previous General Meeting minutes.

Paragraph #5: All voting shall be done according to the Robert’s-Rule of Order. All voting may be by voice or show of hands, unless the majority of those present wish to vote by ballot. When voting by ballot, this shall be by paper ballot, which shall be maintained by the Recording Secretary for one year. The minutes shall state how many people voted for and against each specific Officer position and how many voting members in attendance abstained from voting. The minutes shall also state the manner in which proof of PTO voting membership was checked. The President will vote only to break a tie.

Paragraph #6: Any member may attend General Business meetings and participate in discussion; however, non-voting members may not vote on PTO business.

Article VII. Fiscal Year Procedure

Paragraph #1: The fiscal year of the PTO shall run July 1 to June 30.

Paragraph #2: The books will be audited twice per year in July and January. An initialed copy of the ledger must be printed and included at the time of the audit.

Paragraph #3: By July 1st, the outgoing Treasurer and President will provide a final financial statement and surrender the checkbook and un-examined books to the new President who will have the books examined.

Paragraph #4: The examiner is to receive only the current receipts, bills, canceled checks, bank statements and ledger sheets pertaining to the previous fiscal year.

Paragraph #5: The examination may be conducted by a committee of preferably two or more people or a bookkeeper. Members of the outgoing Executive Board with check signing privileges may not serve on the examining committee nor may members of their family.

Article VIII. Amendments

These By-Laws may only be altered, amended, repealed or added to by an affirmative vote of not less than two-thirds of the voting membership present at a General Business meeting provided that notice of the proposed amendments shall be given at a previous meeting or in writing one week prior to the meeting.

Article IX. Expenditure of Funds.

Paragraph #1: In keeping with the purposes of our organization, funds are intended for the benefit of the Conerly Road School student body and should be used in that capacity. However, there will be occasions when the PTO would like to acknowledge various significant events, which may involve the expenditure of funds. On those occasions, the following guidelines will be followed:

Guidelines

Births, Weddings, Hospitalizations – Acknowledge with a card from the membership.

Deaths – Faculty, staff, PTO Board and their immediate families: Acknowledge with a sympathy card and a donation of $10.00 in the deceased’s name to a recognized charity. All others are acknowledged with a sympathy card from the membership.

Retirements – Principal and teachers: Acknowledge service with a card and an appropriate gift; not to exceed $25.00.

Teacher Recognition Awards – State, County, National and Governor’s Awards: Acknowledge teacher’s achievement with a card and an appropriate gift; not to exceed $25.00.

Teacher Transfer – Acknowledge service with a card from the membership and/or an appropriate gift; not to exceed $25.00.

Paragraph #2: All expenditures must be authorized as per Article VI Paragraph #3 or #4.

Paragraph #3: No blank checks will be issued by the Treasurer or the President.

Paragraph #4: Expense reports must be submitted to the Treasurer within two weeks of incurring the expense. The Treasurer must receive from Chairs all event deposits within two weeks of said event’s closing date.

Paragraph #5: Current PTO board policy for handling bounced checks is a follows: The check amount plus the current bank service charge must be remitted in a certified check, cash or money order. After the debt has been paid in full the member may pay by check again. Should there be a second occurrence of a bounced check, we will not accept another check from this particular person for the remainder of the school year. After the PTO fiscal year has ended, if the member has paid the total bounced amount, (check amount plus bank charge), then the member’s check(s) will be accepted in future school years, however if the total owed to the organization is not paid in full, then only certified checks, cash, or money orders willbe accepted in future school years.

Paragraph #6: The President is allowed to spend a total of $100.00 for PTO related business without approval of the Board.

Effective Date: May 03, 2011 1