Reesor Park Public School Constitution As of May 28, 2012
Article 1: The organization will be known as Reesor Park School Council, and hereafter referred to as the Council
Reesor Park Public School
69 Wooten Way North
Markham, Ontario
L3P 2Y5
905-294-6558
Article 2: Mission/Vision
The Reesor Park School Council believes that successful education is a result of school, parent, family and community engagement. This encompasses the collaboration of all involved to form effective relationships between the education system and the communities. This may be achieved through consultation, collaboration and communication nurturing our diverse culture and relationships with parents. The Reesor Park School Council serves in an advisory role in the direction and management of Reesor Park P.S. We believe that this relationship between our school and community will strengthen student learning and school effectiveness. The council will operate without financial gain for its members. Any profit to the organization
will be used in promoting its purpose. Any and all fund raising activities will be conducted in strict accordance with board policy under the guidance of the school administrator.
Article 3: Purpose & Objectives
1. Encourage effective parental engagement in the education of their children.
2. Provide a means for regular communication and dialogue between all partners in education.
3. Participate in the school improvement planning process.
4. Provide meaningful consultation and extensive involvement of all members of the school community.
5. Foster community involvement in education.
6. Encourage meaningful involvement of all members of the school community in support of student learning.
7. Provide input into decisions made by the school administration, the Board, and the Ministry.
8. Encourage effective parental engagement by focusing on the following areas: parental resources, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making and collaborating with community.
9. Help to co-ordinate the services for school, family, and community partnerships related to social, health, recreational and nutrition programs that assist in the education of children. Our purpose is to promote healthy living and encourage positive climate for learning.
10. Facilitate the building of a viable school community, which works together in the best interests of our students and their education.
Article 4: Procedures and Operating Guidelines
The operational procedures of this council are outlined in YRDSB Policy #262, see Appendix 1. All recommendations and activities of the council shall comply with all Ministry of Education Acts, York Region District School Board Policies and Procedures and Staff Collective Agreements.
Article 5: Membership
All members on the council are equal partners and shall each have one vote. The membership of the council should endeavour to reflect the diversity of the school community. Membership of the council shall be comprised of:
a) Parents/Guardians of Students enrolled in the school: Parents/Guardians shall form the majority (by one member) of the council. Parent/Guardian representatives shall be elected by the parents/guardians of students at Ramer Wood P.S. in accordance with the election procedures as set out in Article 3. There will be no more than 15 parent members.
b) Community Representative(s): The community Representative(s) may be appointed by a majority vote by the council.
c) School Principal: The school Principal shall be a designated member.
d) Support Staff Member: The Non-Teaching Staff Member may be elected by the Non-Teaching Staff Members or if necessary, be appointed by the Principal.
e) Teacher(s): The teacher representative(s) [not to exceed three and shall endeavour to represent the three divisions], are elected by members of the teaching stall.
f) Student: [at the discretion of the Principal and the Council]
Article 6: Executive
6.1: Officer Positions
The council Executive will consist of a Chair or two Co-Chairs, Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer.
6.2 Roles and Responsibilities
The Chair of the School Council Shall:
· Call Council meetings (minimum four per year) in consultation with the principal
· Communicate with parents about matters under consideration by the council
· Prepare the agendas for Council meetings in consultation with the principal and Executive members
· Ensure the agenda is distributed prior to the meetings
· Chair Council meetings according to the agenda
· Ensure the minutes of Council meetings are communicated appropriately
· Ensure the School Council Constitution is readily available to the school community via school website
· Communicate with and provide advice to the school principal
· Participate in information sharing sessions and training programs
· Consult with senior Board staff and trustees, as required
· Submit a written annual report on the Council’s activities including fundraising to the principal and the Board
· Ensure that fundraising activities, management of the proceeds of fundraising and all expenditures are in accordance with applicable Board policies and procedures
The Vice-Chair of the Council shall:
· Assist the Chair of the Council in carrying out his/her responsibilities
· Act of behalf of the Chair in the event of his/her absence
· Perform duties of Secretary and Treasurer in their absence
The Secretary of the Council shall:
· Record, maintain and distribute minutes of meetings
· Receive membership applications and establish the membership list for distribution
· Keep Council Executive and membership lists up to date
· Determine who is eligible to vote at the outset of each meeting
The Treasurer of the Council shall:
· Keep a proper record of all receipts and disbursements of Reesor Park School Council for the current fiscal year
· Prepare financial updates for each meeting
· Reports directly to the EOAA whom shall deposit all monies on behalf of Reesor Park School Council in such bank or trust company as designated by the school/board
· Be responsible for filing any statements in conjunction with the school EOAA or schedules required pursuant to the Council’s charitable status under the Income Tax Act of Canada (as needed)
6.3: Guidelines for Executive
· To be an Executive member, a parent/guardian must, ideally, have been a Council member for at least one year
· An employee of the Board cannot be the Chair
· The Executive will follow operations procedures outlined in Article 7
Article 7: Elections
7.1: Election Timetable
Elections must be held during the first 30 calendar days of each school year, as outlined in YRDSB Procedure #262
7.2: Election Procedures for Parent Members
Parent member elections shall be by acclamation. Each parent guardian seeking election must be nominated or self-nominated in writing, must have a child registered at the school, and must declare if he or she is employed by the Board.
Application forms are requested at, or prior to, the first Council meeting in September.
The School Council shall form an election committee to administer the membership process and count and record ballots. The names and number of parent members forming the School Council shall be determined and communicated at the first Council meeting in September.
If a Council member misses three (3) meetings, they make a request to the executive that they remain active. Such a decision remains at the discretion of the executive.
All parents are invited to attend Council meetings and speak to issues, but voting will be restricted to active Council members. Active members are members of school council who have attended the majority of meetings and who have signed the application for the position of active member at the first meeting of the school year.
7.3: Election Procedures for Executive Members
At the first meeting of Council in September, following the election of parent members, the assembled Council will entertain nominations for Executive positions. Such nominations will be made on a volunteer basis, and Executive appointments shall be by acclamation when the number of candidates is not more than one for each position.
Each parent guardian seeking election for an Executive position must be nominated or self-nominated in writing, must have a child registered at the school, and must declare if he or she is employed by the Board. An employee of the Board cannot seek election as the Chair.
If more than one member seeks nomination for a particular Executive position, election procedures will be as follows:
· Each Council member shall be entitled to one vote for each vacant Executive position on the council
· The Council shall form an election committee to execute the election process
· The outgoing members of the Executive shall form the election committee, however, no one standing for the election, or the spouse of anyone standing for election, shall be a member of the election committee.
· Where at least two of the outgoing Executives cannot be available to form the election committee, an ad hoc committee will be formed by a minimum of two Council members
· The election committee shall:
o Conduct the elections by secret ballot
o Count the ballots
o Notify all individuals standing for election of the results before the results are released to the school community.
7.4: Terms of Office
Elected and appointed parent members of Council may seek additional terms of office.
Elected and appointed Executive members may serve for a maximum of 2 consecutive terms of office in the same executive position unless there is no interest expressed by other members in attaining these positions.
7.5: Vacancies
A vacancy in the member ship of the School Council does not prevent the Council from exercising its’ authority.
Positions that become vacant due to resignation or removal shall be filled as soon as possible by informing the parent community of the vacancy/vacancies and accepting applications from interested volunteers, if there are more applications than positions, an election will be called.
A vacancy on the Executive team does not prevent the council from exercising its’ authority.
Executive positions that become vacant due to resignation or removal shall be filled as soon as possible by:
1. Offering the person with the next largest number of votes who was not elected, the opportunity to accept the position.
2. Where there are not enough candidates to fill the vacancies, notice will be sent to all Council members informing them of the vacancies and application by interested volunteers will be sought.
3. If there are more applications than positions, an election will be called.
4. When no more candidates are available, Council may appoint parent members.
7.6: Resignations
Any Council member, except the principal, may resign his/her position by submitting a letter of resignation to the chair.
7.7: Removal
The Council may choose to remove from Council any member who misses 50% of meetings as outlined in Article 7.2.
Article 8: Sub-Committees
Throughout the school year, sub-committees may be formed to conduct more detailed or in-depth work than is possible during Council meetings.
8.1: Sub-Committee Membership
Each sub-committee must contain at least one parent member of council. Persons, who are not members of Council, may be members of sub-committees.
8.2: Chairs of Sub-Committees
Each sub-committee will appoint its’ own chair.
8.3: Roles and responsibilities
- Make recommendations to the Council
- Set out timelines to achieve their established goals
- Keep the Council informed of issues and developments in its’ particular area at each Council meeting.
Article 9: Meetings
9.1: Timetable of Meetings
The Council will meet at least four times during the school year at meetings that are open to the public. The first meeting will be held within the first 30 days of the school year.
A couple of these dates and times will be included in communication(s) to the families of the school.
It is recognized that the timetable may change at any time.
9.2: Quorum
A meeting will have quorum if:
1. The majority of council members are present AND
2. The majority of those present are parents.
A meeting of council can be held if there is not quorum but all voting will be deferred.
9.3: Decision-Making
The preferred method to resolve issues on Council is by consensus. Consensus is a collective opinion or general agreement by ALL the Council members.
In the case where a decision cannot be reached through consensus, the chair may decide on one of the following:
1. To have a vote by way of a show of hands or a silent vote by those present in which a 51% majority shall carry the vote.
2. To defer the issue to the next meeting
3. To defer the issue to a special meeting
4. To defer the issue to a sub-committee
All members of Council are entitled to vote, with the exception of the principal. The teacher representatives, if more than one, are allowed one vote between them.
9.4: Conflict of Interest
If individual Council members perceive themselves to be in conflict of interest, they are honour bound to declare their conflict at the earliest possible opportunity and at the time of the meeting, so the minutes may reflect this declaration. Council members cannot receive any renumeration for their work as a member of Council.
9.5: Conflict Resolution
The Council will undertake to resolve all internal conflicts within its’ mandate in a timely manner.
The Council will abide by any conflict resolution policy issued by the Board.
Article 10: Financial Records
10.1: Signing Authorities
As per board policy # 676 signing authority now rests with the principal and EOAA.
10.2: Disbursement and Allocation of Money
All money must be collected by the end of the year. Funds should be dispersed or allocated to a specific purpose by the end of the year. (See Appendix 1)
Appendix 1
Reesor Park School Council will endeavour to financially support the educational and curriculum-based classroom requirements and initiatives for each school year. The following guideline explains how the Reesor Park School Council will operate with respect to requests and allocations of funds.
1. All requests for funds should relate to items or events which are educational, curriculum-based and for the benefit of the student population as a whole. Furthermore, such purchases should support the current School Plan for Continuous Improvement. There is no proposed limit.
2. Requests originating from the teaching staff will be discussed, decided upon, prioritized and brought forward to administration for presentation to School Council.
3. Administration must review and approve all requests.
4. To facilitate budget planning and determine fundraising requirements, all requests should be brought forward to School Council at a School Council meeting after the Fall Fundraiser has concluded.
5. Council will evaluate all proposals and endeavor to confirm which requests can be accommodated during the school year or may need to be moved out to another school year.
6. Further to ensure all requests are evaluated fairly with due consideration to all other proposed needs, no requests should be made by any party, and consequently no funds should be approved by Council at the first Council meeting of the school year, unless deemed an emergency.
7. All requests should be estimated based on actual purchase costs and will include applicable taxes and shipping costs. These estimates will be the basis for the budget and actual expenses will be paid up to those amounts.
8. All of the above does not preclude administration or a School Council member of parent within the school from coming forward later in the year should other needs arise. School Council will do their best to evaluate each request based on its support of educational and curriculum-based initiatives as well as their financial position and other outstanding commitments.
9. If necessary, early in each school year, a fundraising sub-committee will be formed to assess the current financial position of Council along with the proposed requests for funds. The committee will formulate a plan and put forth a recommendation to School Council for fundraising requirements which will be voted on by Council.
10. Towards the end of the school year, School Council will ensure that an appropriate amount of funds, approximately $1,500, is left available for the beginning of the following school Year. Any proposed event scheduled for the subsequent school year (ie. September Curriculum Night) may also be budgeted for, and funds set aside if available.
Article 11: Agendas and Minutes
11.1: Agendas
Agenda items should be submitted to the chair one week prior to the Council’s next meeting. The chair will set the agenda with the principal, prior to the meeting. The agenda will be made available to members, prior to the Council meeting.
11.2: Minutes
Minutes shall be posted on the school website once approved at the subsequent meeting of the school Council. Minutes shall include motions, decisions and actions to be taken. Executive members and the principal must inform the chair if they are going to be absent from a Council meeting.
Article 12: Constitutional Amendments
The School Council will review the constitution every two years or as the need arises. A sub-committee can perform the review and bring proposed amendments to Council for voting. Amendments to the constitution must be presented to the Council, at a regularly scheduled meeting. Constitutional amendments need a 2/3 majority to be passed.