Bylaws

Revised on November 12, 2015

ARTICLE 1. NAME:

This organization shall be called the SAN MARCOS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (SME) PARENT TEACHER ORGANIZATION (PTO).

ARTICLE II. PURPOSE:

The purpose of this organization shall be to unite families, to inspire kids, and to underwrite success. The priorities of this organization shall be:

  • Facilitating strong, constructive relationships between students, parents, teachers, administrators and other schools in the San Marcos Unified School District.
  • Bridging the gap left by insufficient district and state funds to provide: auxiliary academic opportunities for students of all learning levels; a strong character building curriculum; frequent and regular participation in music; instruction in the arts; and quality exposure to and experience in computers, technology and science.
  • Engaging parents in volunteer capacities wherever possible so as to: promote friendships; establish a caring and cohesive culture in which we nurture our young children; have success in our program and fundraising efforts.

The SME PTO is organized exclusively for charitable and education purposes. The SME PTO operates as a non-profit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Notwithstanding any other provision of these articles, the organization shall not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried on by an organization exempt from Federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue Law.)

ARTICLE III. MEMBERSHIP:

All parents and teachers of SME are members of the SME PTO.

ARTICLE IV. EXECUTIVE BOARD:

Section 1. The Executive Board will be composed of the officers of the Organization, the Principal and/or his/her representative and the Teacher Representative(s).

Section 2. The Executive Board will meet once a month during the school year, unless otherwise ordered by the Executive Board. Special or additional meetings of the Executive Board may be called by the President.

Section 3. The Executive Board will carry out the purpose of the organization as stated in Article II and a) plan and organize fundraisers and service activities, and b) determine expenditures of funds.

Section 4. The Principal and/or his/her representative will act as an advisor at all monthly meetings of the Executive Board.

Section 5. The Teacher Representative(s) will be appointed annually by the other teachers and will attend all monthly Executive Board meetings.

ARTICLE V. MEETINGS:

Section 1. Executive Board Meetings. Meetings will be held monthly and are open to all SME families and staff. All board members are expected to attend these meetings.

Section 2. General Membership Meetings. General membership meetings of the organization will be held a minimum of two times during the school year. At the first General Meeting, the budget for the school year will be presented. At the final General Meeting, the slate of the PTO officers will be approved for the following year; an accounting of all PTO monies received and expended for that year will be presented; and a proposed preliminary budget for the following school year will be presented.

Section 3. Agenda Items. If a member wishes to speak on a topic at a Board meeting (either an Executive or General Board meeting), he/she shall submit the agenda item to the PTO President no later than the Monday preceding the meeting. Members will be notified if there is a change of day and/or time of a meeting at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting.

Section 4. All interested are invited to attend the monthly Executive Board Meeting. All Executive Board meetings will be advertised in the monthly school calendar and posted on the SME web site.

ARTICLE VI. ELECTION OF OFFICERS:

Section 1. Officers must have a child in SME during the year they are to hold office.

Section 2. The officers of the Organization will be as follows: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Director of Volunteer Coordination, Director of Room Parent Coordination, PAC Representative, ELA liaison, and Box Tops Coordinator.

Section 3. Election of the Officers of the Board will be held annually. All officers will be eligible to run for the same office for a maximum of three consecutive terms. All Executive Board positions may be shared by no more than two people.

Section 4. Election Process

a. A “Letter of Invitation” for Board applicants will be sent to all parents in April. Interested parties will have 2 weeks to nominate themselves or others and will submit their application by the stated deadline.

b. The list of all interested parties will be put together by the Secretary and delivered to the Principal and current President.

c. The Principal and current President will contact those candidates who have expressed interest in being alerted if there are other candidates interested in the same position, so that they may discuss any position that does not have any candidates.

d. A ballot will go out in May to all SME parents for a vote on the positions. Each position will also include a write-in option.

Section 5. At the final General Meeting, the officers for the coming year will be presented.

Section 6. The president may recommend any new Executive Board positions as necessary with the approval of the Executive Board.

Section 7. All vacancies, newly created offices and nominations for a co-chair will be filled at the discretion of and appointment by the President with a vote of the Executive Board. Any vacancy that occurs within the last three months of the school year will be filled by presidential appointment with the approval of the Executive Board after the general election, including Board members that want to extend after three years.

Section 8. If the President resigns or can no longer fulfill his/her duties prior to the end of his/her term, a closed election will be held by the voting Board members to fill this position for the remainder of the term.

Section 9. Should an Executive Board member fail to fulfill his/her duties as set forth in Article VII below, including but not limited to the repeated failure to attend Executive Board meetings, the failure to communicate with other Executive Board members about important duties, the repeated neglect of his/her duties, then at the discretion of the President, that Executive Board member may be asked to resign his/her position. The vacancy will be filled as detailed in Article VI, Section 7 above.

ARTICLE VII. OFFICERS AND DUTIES:

In addition to individual position duties specified below, all officers are expected to adhere to monetary procedures, event process guidelines, and safety guidelines.

Section 1. The President will preside at all meetings, and will be an ex officio member of all committees. The President will provide leadership to the Board, including assisting with goal setting and planning of activities. The President or his/her designee will attend and report on the monthly PAC meetings at SMUSD. The President will review and update Appendices II and III on an annual or more frequent basis. The position of President will be a two-year term.

Section 2. The Vice President will support the President in all aspects and support Directors on an as-needed basis. The Vice President will play a key role in the day-to-day operations of the organization, trouble-shoot issues as they arise, and lead meetings when the President is unable to do so.

Section 3. The Secretary will keep an accurate record of the proceedings of each meeting and will be prepared to read, on call, the record of any previous meetings. The Secretary will attend all meetings of the PTO. The Secretary will send out all minutes within two weeks to the Executive Board members for their review and approval. Executive Board members must review the minutes and send any revisions to the Secretary prior to the next Board meeting. The Secretary will serve as Parliamentarian. As Parliamentarian, he/she will prepare a summary of all unfinished business for the President, and will be committee chairperson of the Bylaw Revision Committee, to meet at least once per year, and will keep notes throughout the year on any recommended changes.

Section 4. The Treasurer will receive, collect, recount, make timely deposits and pay out all moneys subject to the order of the organization. He/she will work closely with an independent bookkeeper to make deposits and check requests. The bookkeeper will keep an accurate account of all money received and expended and he/she will render a report in writing at the final General Meeting. He/she will meet with the Principal to draft the budget for each fiscal year. This budget will be presented at the first General Meeting. The Treasurer and Treasurer Elect will review and balance all accounts within 30 days of the last day of the school year, and renew all required insurance policies and submit copies to the District office. All SME PTO check requests require two signatures, those of the appropriate Board member and the President. If either of these officers is unavailable then the Treasurer will provide the second signature. 

Monies spent not budgeted through SME PTO budget line item or committee budget item must have prior consent by the President or Treasurer. All reimbursement requests must be submitted to the Treasurer within 2 weeks of an event. All monies will be collected and/or counted by at least (2) two PTO members representing two different PTO Board positions, one of whom must be an Executive Board member or chairperson of standing committee, excluding SME Staff members. 

Section 5. The Director of Room Parent Coordination will plan, organize and implement training and guidance for all Room Parents, a minimum of once a year. The Room Parent Coordination Director will serve as the liaison between the Room Parents and the PTO. The Director will develop and assemble a working Room Parent Binder and Room Parent Directory that will be distributed to all Room Parents. He/she will keep all Room Parents informed on the District’s Wellness Policy.

The Room Parent Director will coordinate and distribute pre-approved emails and letters that can be used by Room Parents to help with communication. The Director will arrange for the Staff Appreciation Week activities.

Section 6. The Director of Volunteer Coordination will coordinate volunteers for PTO sponsored events. The Volunteer Coordination Director will publicize the need for volunteers by such means as he/she deems appropriate. The Director of Volunteer Coordination will develop a volunteer pool to be used as a resource for locating volunteers for events. The Director will schedule volunteers for events and establish and maintain contact with volunteers prior to the event. He/she will work closely with the Director of Room Parent Coordination to manage and utilize volunteers for various events. The Director of Volunteer Coordination will ensure that prior to any event, every PTO volunteer has a current liability waiver signed and on file. 

Section 7. The Vice President (?) will publish a PTO Newsletter on a monthly basis, maintain a PTO calendar on the website, and post pertinent PTO information, including monthly meeting minutes, approved forms and the current approved budget. Vice President will also coordinate all email alerts as well as PACE calls, at the discretion of the Principal.

Section 8. The PAC Representative will attend all SMUSD PAC monthly meetings and represent the SME PTO. The PAC Representative will act as a liaison between the district and the SME PTO Executive Board.

Section 9. The Teacher Representative will act as a liaison between the teachers and the Executive Board. The representative will also be responsible for communicating all relevant information discussed and decided at the Board Meeting to the teachers.

Section 10. The Principal will act as liaison between SME Staff and PTO Board.

ARTICLE VIII. STANDING COMMITTEES:

Section 1. Standing committees will be created by the Board member in charge of the event or service as may be required to carry on the work of the Organization.

Section 2. The chairpersons of the standing committees from an unfilled Board seat will be recruited from the general membership of the organization and approved by the Executive Board.

Section 3. The term of office for these chairpersons will be for the required duration of the project or event.

Section 4. At the completion of each event, chairpersons will submit a summary to the appropriate Executive Board representative. 

ARTICLE IX. AMENDMENTS:

The Bylaws may be amended when necessary. The Secretary will chair a committee recommended by the President with the approval of the Executive Board, who will review and recommend any necessary revisions of the Bylaws. These revised Bylaws will be approved by the Executive Board.

ARTICLE X. PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY:

The parliamentary authority of the Organization shall be “Robert’s Rules of Order”. The following information is listed in order to clarify voting procedures:

Voting members are the Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Director of Volunteer Coordination, Director of Room Parent Coordination, PAC Representative, ELA liaison, and Box Tops Coordinator.

a. Each Executive Board position will receive one vote. Shared Executive Board positions will share one vote which may be cast by either party. If there is more than one Teacher Representative present at a meeting, only one of them will be allowed to vote.

b. A quorum will be established when 2/3 of the voting members are present. The vote of the teacher representative will be counted as establishing a quorum.

c. When a quorum is present, a simple majority vote that is a majority of the votes cast is sufficient for the adoption of any motion. All members of the Executive Board may vote except the President. The Principal, the Teacher Representative, and/or his/her representative(s) may not vote.

d. When an issue cannot wait until the next regularly scheduled Board meeting, an Executive Board vote may take place via e-mail so long as every Board position places a vote on the motion. The results of the vote by e-mail must be reflected in the minutes of the subsequent Executive Board meeting.

e. The President will be asked to vote only to break a tie on a given motion. He/she will vote in a general election and general membership meetings.

f. A member may abstain from voting.

g. The attending members may cast votes for themselves and may act as a proxy for others. In the case of a proxy vote, the member wishing to have a proxy vote in his/her stead must notify the Secretary in writing prior to the meeting. This notification may be in the form of an email. The Secretary shall note the name of the member asking to use a proxy and the name of the member who will cast the proxy vote at the meeting minutes.

ARTICLE XI. DISSOLUTION:

If the SME PTO should dissolve, after paying or adequately providing for the debts and obligations of the organization, all remaining assets are to be donated to SME to be used for education purposes. However, if SME should dissolve, or is no longer a qualified distributee, or unwilling or unable to accept the distribution, then the assets of the organization will be distributed to the San Marcos Unified School District. The property of the Organization is irrevocably dedicated to charitable purposes and no part of the income or assets of the Organization will ever inure to the benefit of any director, officer or member thereof to the benefit of any private person.

ARTICLE XII. STANDING RULES:

Section 1. A meeting of the Present Executive Board and the Executive Board-Elect will be called to make plans for the coming year’s work.

Section 2. At the final General Meeting of the school year, a copy of the Bylaws will be given to each member of the Board-Elect. Each member will be responsible for making a thorough study of them. A copy of these Bylaws will be made available online.

Section 3. The Principal, President and/or President-Elect will meet to discuss the activities for the upcoming year. 

Section 4. In the event the Bylaws are changed to shorten the terms of office, officers will continue to serve through the terms for which they were originally elected.

BYLAWS OF SAN MARCOS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PARENT-TEACHER ORGANIZATION

Approved on, ­­­­­_________________________, 20_______

PRESIDENT

VICE PRESIDENT

SECRETARY

TREASURER

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

DIRECTOR OF FUNDRAISING PROGRAMS

DIRECTOR OF VOLUNTEER COORDINATION

PAC REPRESENTATIVE

DIRECTOR OF ROOM PARENT COORDINATION

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY RELATIONS

DIRECTOR OF VOLUNTEER COORDINATION

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