Constitution and By-Laws of the St. Aloysius Gonzaga
Parent Teacher Organization
September, 2008
Article I – Name
The name of this organization shall be the St. Aloysius Gonzaga Parent Teacher Organization, P.T.O.
Article II – Object
The Purpose of this organization shall be to promote closer cooperation between parents and teachers and to work for the advancement of Catholic Education and the welfare of the children of St. Aloysius Gonzaga School.
Article III – Membership
1. Persons with children attending St. Aloysius Gonzaga School are eligible for membership upon payment of dues.
2. Dues shall be determined by the Board at the beginning of each school year.
Only paid members will be allowed voting privileges.
3. Teachers on staff at St. Aloysius Gonzaga are considered members of PTO with voting privileges, no applicable members dues required.
Article IV – Officers and Representatives
1. The officers of this organization shall be President(s), Vice-President(s), Past President(s), Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, Treasurer, Pastoral Council Representative, School Representative, all of whom shall be elected by the general membership at the May General Assembly Meeting.
2. The Pastor of the Parish and the Principal of the school shall be, respectively, the Spiritual Director and the Honorary President. A member of the teaching staff shall serve as Faculty Representative to this organization. The Pastor and Principal shall not have a vote on the Board.
3. The above officers and the chairpersons of the Standing Committees shall constitute a Board of Directors (See Article VIII, #5).
Article V – Nominations and Elections
1. The nominating committee shall consist of President(s), and Vice-President(s) and they may ask up to two people from the general membership. The committee shall present nominees for each office open for election at the May General Assembly meeting, when nominations from the floor shall be in order. Elections will also take place at the May General Assembly meeting. All nominations for P.T.O. offices will be closed at the May General Assembly. If any offices remain unfilled, it will be up to Board to nominate and elect officers to those positions.
2. Only members are eligible to be nominated. The consent of the nominee must be given before their name is presented.
3. The term of office shall be two years for officers except President(s) and Vice President(s). The Vice-President(s) shall be elected to office for a period of one year and then automatically advance to President(s) for one year and then Past President(s) for one year.
4. Vacancies of appointed committee chairpersons occurring during the year shall be filled by the board.
5. Vacancies of elected officers occurring during the year shall be filled by a special election through the Board.
Article VI – Meetings
1. General Assembly meetings shall be held 3 times a year in the months of September, January and May as designated by the President(s) and the Principal.
2. The Board shall meet monthly during the school year as designated by the President(s) and the Principal.
3. General Assembly and Board meetings shall be open to all interested persons.
4. Special meetings shall be called by the President(s).
5. All committee reports are due the Monday before Board meetings via email or hard copy to the President(s). If a chairperson is unable to attend a meeting his/her vote if applicable may be done via phone. Agendas, minutes and reports will be sent out via email/hard copy at least twenty-four hours before meetings.
6. Twenty-four hours advanced notice is required for Special Board meetings via phone or email. Notices shall not be sent home with the children.
Article VII – Quorum
1. Representation of three officers and twenty-four members shall constitute a quorum at General Assembly meetings. A majority of its voting members shall be a quorum at Board meetings.
2. The Officers, the Faculty Representative, and the Chairperson of each standing Committee shall have a vote at the Board meetings. (Positions with co-chairs shall have only one vote).
3. The President(s) shall abstain from voting except in the event of a tie.
Article VIII-Policies
1. The retiring President(s) shall remain on the Board as an advisor for one year.
2. No Officer shall be eligible to serve more than two consecutive terms in the same office.
3. No Officer shall serve on the Board for more than five consecutive years.
4. There need be only one representative from each standing committee (Ways & Means and School Representative) each position has only one Board vote if position is co-chaired. The term for both Ways & Means and School Representative is 2 years.
Activities as listed on attached addendum. The addendum updated yearly by the Board.
5. The President(s), Past-President(s), Treasurer, Ways & Means Chair(s) and the Principal shall meet in June to determine a proposed budget to be voted on at the first General Assembly Meeting.
6. Two unexcused absences by an Officer of the Board of Directors shall be sufficient grounds for dismissal from the Board. The Officer shall be excused upon notification to the President(s). It is the responsibility of the Officer to find a replacement and/or provide their report.
7. The Board may approve an expenditure of $500.00 or less. Any amount greater than that, shall require the approval of the General membership before it can be effective. The president(s) may approve up to $100.00 without the approval of the Board or the General membership.
8. 50% of the profit from the Kroger Card program & 10% of the profit from the Gator Raffle will be tithed back to the Church after the final amount is tallied at the end of the fiscal year (June). This dollar amount is not subject to vote and will be tithed back per the percentages noted above regardless of the amount.
9. For the Gordon Food Service (GFS) program, which is shared with the cafeteria, at least $100.00 is to be tithed to the cafeteria. After the first $100.00 is earned, we will tithe that money immediately to the cafeteria.
10. All PTO recommendations must be available to all members at least one month prior to the General Assembly meeting at which they will be voted upon. These recommendations/revisions will be available for review on the school’s web page and, at the request of a member, a hard copy will be sent home through school. PTO members will be made aware of the upcoming vote and the availability of the proposal(s) via a note from school. A vote will then take place at the next General Assembly meeting.
11. In the event that a budgeted item has monies left at the end of the school year, that money may be requested to be put into “restricted funds” to be used in the next school year. The person in charge of that line item needs to fill out a request form and give that form to the PTO Treasurer on or before May 30th of that year. This will then be voted on by the Board.
12. A review of the By-Laws is required every two years by the Board.
Article IX – Duties of Officers
- Please see attached Job descriptions for each Board Member.
Article X –
The By-laws may be amended at any meeting of the PTO by a two-thirds vote of the voting members, a quorum being present, provided the amendment has been previously approved by the Board.
The above articles were adopted on: January 14th, 2009
Addendum to PTO Bylaws
Activities of Ways & Means and School Representative Committees
Ways & Means:
Kroger Cards
Surveys
Labels
Market Day
Sally Foster
Gator Call
Gator Crawl
Chili Fest
Skating Parties
Wiseman’s Gift Shop
Kings Island
Papa John’s
Monthly Gator Raffle
Gordon Food Service (GFS)
School Representative:
Room Parent
Playground
Everybody Counts
COSI (every other year)
Catholic Schools Week
Special Guest Day
Career Day (every two years and off a year – next one in 2010)
Spanish Club
Prayer Group
Yearbook (REMOVE)
Faith Fest (Name Change)
Library/Book Fair
Picture Parent (REMOVE)
Special Teacher Event (example retirement party)
Technology – just as information on what is needed and how PTO can help
Addendum adopted on: January 14th, 2009