SWARTHMORE-RUTLEDGE SCHOOL HOME AND SCHOOL ASSOCIATION BYLAWS
Adopted May 3, 1983 Amended:December 7, 1992; March 7, 1994; May 7, 2001; March 16, 2011; January 15, 2014; October 15, 2014; October 21, 2015; October 17, 2018, October 22, 2020.
ARTICLE I – NAME, PURPOSE, AND POLICIES
Section 1 – Name
a. The name of the organization shall be the Swarthmore-Rutledge School Homeand School Association (hereafter referred to as “the Association”)
Section 2. – Objectives –The Association shall have as its objectives:
a. promoting a better understanding among parents/guardians/caregivers, teachers, administrators, and community by discussion of local educational problems,
b. presenting to parents/guardians/caregivers and teachers through public meetings and study groups an opportunity to learn about issues of concern to them,
c. presenting to the Wallingford –Swarthmore Board of School Directors issuesof concern to the members of the Association,
d. promoting the education and enjoyment of the school community bysponsoring special events,
e. providing financial assistance for special programs and projects.
Section 3 – Policies
a. The policies of this Association shall be in harmony with policies of theWallingford-Swarthmore School District. The Association, which is a non- profit association, shall be non-sectarian and non-partisan.
Section 4 – Purpose
a. The purpose of this organization is exclusively educational, including themaking of distributions to organizations under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (or the corresponding section of any future Federal tax code).
ARTICLE II – MEMBERSHIP
Section 1 – Membership
a. All parents and guardians of Swarthmore- Rutledge School students and thefaculty and administrators of the school shall be members of the Association regardless of race, color, sex, age, creed, disability, national origin, sexual orientation, veteran’s status, marital status, gender identity (including gender expression) or family/parental status.
ARTICLE III – ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
Section 1 – Executive Board
a. The Association shall have an Executive Board (also referred to herein as the “Board”).
Section 2 – Executive Board Members
a. The Executive Board shall include the following members:
1. Two (2) Presidents: Succeeded
2. Vice President: Elected
3. Secretary: Elected
4. Treasurer: Elected
5. Receiving Treasurer: Elected
6. Principal
7. One faculty representative designated by principal
b. The term of Office of an elected Board Member shall be one year. The term of Office of a President shall be two years. At the end of the term of a President, the Vice-President shall succeed to and become the new President.
c. The Executive Board shall assume office at the close of the last Board meeting of the school year.
d. Each member of the Executive Board shall have one vote.
e. The presidents shall serve staggered terms overlapping by one year. For example, one president would serve his or her term from 2011 to 2013 and the second president would serve his or her term from 2012 to 2014. The president serving the first year of his or her term is referred to as the “1st-Year President” and the president serving the second year of his or her term is referred to as the “2nd- Year President.”
Section 3 – Duties of the Executive Boarda. The Executive Board shall:
1. Review and recommend budget requests from standing and specialcommittees each year (complete review by July for approval in August)
2. Widely advertise the budget request meeting(s)/due date
3. Present a final budget at the August Board Meeting of the Association;
4. Present a report at the subsequent Association meeting any decisions madeby the Executive Board since the last Association meeting
5. Create a list of committee and activity vacancies for the NominatingCommittee to fill
6. Restructure standing and special committees as needed
7. Define policies of the Association
8. Maintain and hold in confidence information that is confidential, legallyprotected, or of a personal and private nature.
b. Five members of the Executive Board shall constitute a quorum at meetings of the Executive Board.
c. The Executive Board will meet a minimum of three times per school year.
Section 4 – Duties of Officers
a. President – A President shall:
1. preside at all meetings of the Association;
2. oversee all business of the Association;
3. appoint all chairpersons, including: those for standing committees, theNominating Committee, fundraising projects and ad hoc committees, as deemed necessary by the Association;
4. approve and delegate communications to be made to the generalmembership, i.e., email blasts, web postings, newsletters;
5. call general meetings when necessary.
b. Vice President – The vice president shall:
1. plan programs for the Association;
2. preside at meetings in the absence of a president;
3. shall be eligible to succeed to president in the following year;
4. succeed the president in the event that the president cannot fulfill the duties of the office.
5. commit to serve as a member of the Executive Board for up to threeyears (one year as Vice President, followed by two years as President).
c. Secretary – The secretary shall:
1. record and keep all minutes of the Association meetings;
2. send out notices of all meetings;
3. keep copies of the Association bylaws;
4. ensure minutes are posted to the Association’s website.
d. Treasurer – The treasurer shall:
1. be responsible for recording the receipt and disbursal of all funds for theAssociation;
2. shall consult with a president to approve unbudgeted expenses of less than$250.
3. provide a monthly report to the Board;
4. the outgoing treasurer shall present the books by July 15 for an annual review as deemed appropriate by the incoming Executive Board.
5. at the request of the Executive Board or Receiving Treasurer, provide acopy of the monthly bank statements
e. Receiving Treasurer – The Receiving Treasurer shall:
1. collect, receive, and deposit all Association monies.
ARTICLE IV – NOMINATION, ELECTION, VACANCY AND REMOVAL OF OFFICERS
Section 1 – Nomination of the Executive Board
The Nominating Committee shall submit to the president the names of nominees for the Executive Board. The president shall submit a slate of nominees to the membership at the April meeting of the Association. A nominee for Vice President must be able to demonstrate that beginning with the first school year during which such person would serve as Vice President and for each of the two school years thereafter, such person will have one or more children attending the Swarthmore-Rutledge School.
Section 2 – Election of the Executive Board
a. The election of the Executive Board shall take place at the last generalmeeting of the school year.
Section 3 – Vacancy
a. In the event that an elected member of the Executive Board fails to serve his or her entire term of Office for which such member was elected, the Executive Board shall appoint an individual to fill such vacancy and such newly-appointed Board member shall serve in such position for the remainder of the term of such Office.
b. In the event that a 1st-Year President fails to serve his or her entire term of Office, then the Vice-President shall succeed to the presidency and shall serve for the remainder of the term of the 1st-Year President. In the event that a 2nd- Year President fails to serve his or her entire term of Office, then the 1st- Year President shall succeed to and become the 2nd-Year President and shall serve for the remainder of the term of the 2nd-Year President and the Vice- President shall succeed to and become the 1st-Year President and shall serve for the remainder of the term of 1st-Year President.
Section 4 – Voting by Proxy
a. A member entitled to vote may vote by proxy with respect to the election of the Executive Board, amendment of Bylaws and approval of the budget ofthe Association.
b. Under these Bylaws, all voting by proxy shall be by mail-in ballots whichhave been signed and dated by the member entitled to vote and which include such member’s name and address.
c. Every proxy shall be executed in writing by the member entitled to vote or by his or her duly authorized attorney in fact and shall be delivered or mailed to the Association at its current mailing address and filed with the Secretary.
d. A proxy shall be revocable at will, notwithstanding any other agreement orany provision in the proxy to the contrary, but the revocation of a proxy shall not be effective until written notice thereof has been given to the Secretary.
e. A proxy shall not be revoked by the death or incapacity of the member unless before the vote is counted or the authority is exercised, written notice of such death or incapacity is given to the Secretary.
Section 5 – Removal of Officersa. An elected Board member or President may be removed by a vote of noconfidence of four (4) or more members of the Executive Board.
ARTICLE V – COMMITTEES
Section 1 – Nominating Committee.
a. Duties and description. The Nominating Committee shall consist of sevenmembers: the chairperson, the vice president of the Association and four thpersons appointed by the Nominating Committee chairperson who are not currently on the Executive Board.
b. The Nominating Committee shall widely advertise all Executive Board, committee, and activity openings.
c. The Nominating Committee shall meet by March and solicit suggestions for nominations from the general membership of the Association.
d. The Chairperson shall notify the presidents of the proposed slate of nominees prior to the April meeting of the Association. The slate of nominees shall be presented to the general membership at the April meeting.
e. At the last general meeting, nominations will also be accepted from the floor.
f. Election shall be by a majority of those members present at the last general meeting and of those members voting by proxy.
Section 2 – Grade Representatives (grades K-5) – The Grade Representatives shall: act as a liaison between parents, the Executive Board, and the principal for the grade level they represent; secure homeroom parents;
ARTICLE VI – FINANCE
Section 1 – Dues
a. At the discretion of the Executive Board, dues may be collected.
Section 2 – Fundraising Projects
a. Fundraising projects shall be organized at the discretion of the Executive Board.
Section 3 – New Fundraisers
a. All funds from Association fundraisers will go into the general Association budget. In order for a new fundraiser to be specifically adopted and/or earmarked, the event and its goals need to be proposed to and approved by the Executive Board.
Section 4 – Review and Assignment
a. The books shall be reviewed subsequent to the outgoing treasurer presentingthem to the Executive Board by July 15 .
b. Any board member, deemed representative or person found to mishandle ormisappropriate funds, whether in the form of cash management, generated revenue contributed to the organization, fraudulent expense reimbursement requests or in any manner deemed to be illegal or unethical, will be immediately removed from such representation and barred from returning to such a capacity. This is a zero tolerance policy and any determinations developing from this policy should be considered potentially punishable by legal action.
Section 5 – Spending Authority
a. Approved budgetary expenses do not require additional authorization prior to the disbursement of funds.
b. The treasurer shall supply the Executive Board a monthly bank statement
c. Any unbudgeted expense up to $250.00 may be authorized at the discretion ofthe treasurer and either president.
d. Any unbudgeted spending amount over $250.00 must be approved by the membership at a general meeting.
Section 6 – Surplus
a. If the Executive Board determines that there are sufficient unbudgeted funds available to solicit proposals for funding, the solicitation shall be widely publicized and placed in notices to the faculty.
b. The solicitation shall note 1) the total amount of funds available, 2) deadlinefor submission, 3) that proposals must be in writing, with a description of the item or program to be funded, its cost, and how it will benefit the SRS community.
c. All funding proposals shall be directed in writing to the principal, with a copy to the Association president. The Principal shall determine whether the Proposal can be covered by funds in the school budget, or in the district budget. If so, it will not require action by the Association.
d. All funding proposals shall be widely publicized noting that they will be voted upon at the next scheduled Association meeting.
e. A majority vote of the members present at the general meeting and voting by proxy shall determine whether the funding proposal is approved.
ARTICLE VII – MEETINGS
Section 1 – General Meetings
a. At least four business meetings of the Association shall be held each school year. The meetings are open to all members of the Association.
b. Motions at meetings shall be made by any Association member present. Voting on all matters, except where otherwise stipulated in Section VII , shall be by simple majority of the members present or voting by proxy at the meeting.
Section 2 – Voting
a. All members shall have one vote, regardless of their position in the Association.
b. Notice of a matter for which a vote of the membership is required under these Bylaws or sought by the Board shall be made no later than thirty (30) days prior to the scheduled date of the business meeting of the Association at which the matter would be voted upon by the members. Notice shall be deemed to have been made and widely publicized on the date that such matter is posted on the website of the Association.
ARTICLE VIII – QUORUM
Section 1 – Quorum
a. A quorum for the dispatch of business at a general meeting shall consist of no fewer than four (4) members of the Executive Board.
ARTICLE IX – AMENDMENTS
Section 1 – Amendments
a. These bylaws may be amended by two-thirds vote of the members present or voting by proxy at any stated general meeting. The proposed amendments shall be presented for consideration to the membership at least one regularly scheduled meeting in advance of the vote.
ARTICLE X – PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY
Section 1 – Parliamentary Authority
a. The rules contained in Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised shall govern the Association in all cases to which they are applicable.
ARTICLE XI – REVIEW OF BYLAWS
Section 1 – Review of Bylaws
a. Bylaws must be reviewed every year by the Executive Board.
ARTICLE XII – Sale, Dissolution or Liquidation
Section 1 - Sale, Dissolution or Liquidation
a. In the event that the Association is liquidated, dissolved or sold, the assets of the Association, after payment of the Association’s debts and expenses (or provision made therefor) shall be distributed to one or more organizations described in Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code (or the corresponding section of any future Federal tax code) as selected by the majority vote of the Executive Board and none of the assets shall be used for the private inurement to any person.
AMENDMENTS
Under ARTICLE III – Organizational Structure, Section 4.
Duties of Officers, Part d. Treasurer –The treasurer shall: (Additions in italics):“6. File yearly all required tax documentation, including a 990N e-Postcard or 990 EZ, in accordance with IRS regulations.7. Conduct a yearly review in conjunction with the Board Presidents to ensure that SRS operates in a manner consistent with charitable purposes and does not engage in activities that could jeopardize its tax-exempt status.”
Under ARTICLE VI – Finance, Section 4. Review: ADD/Changea. The Fiscal Year shall run from September 1st through August 31st of each calendar year.b. All receipts from committee chairs and board members are due for approval and reimbursement by June 30th of that year.c. The books shall be reviewed subsequent to the outgoing treasurer presenting them to the Executive Board by July 15th. d. The Executive Committee will convene in Mid-August to review budget requests and build the Association Budget for the following year.
Article VI Finance, Section 4. Review and Assignment: Add/Change
a. Heading: Article VI Finance, Section 4. Review and Assignment
b. Any board member, deemed representative or person found to mishandle or misappropriate funds, whether in the form of cash management, generated revenue contributed to the organization, fraudulent expense reimbursement requests or in any manner deemed to be illegal or unethical, will be immediately removed from such representation and barred from returning to such a capacity. This is a zero tolerance policy and any determinations developing from this policy should be considered potentially punishable by legal action.