Revised June 2015

BY-LAWS OF THE ITHAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PARENT-TEACHER ORGANIZATION

ARTICLE I – NAME
The name of the Organization shall be the Ithan Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organization, (PTO).

ARTICLE II – PURPOSE

The purpose of the Organization shall be to promote, supplement and enrich the educational and growth opportunities, both academically and socially, of the children; to encourage and nurture a partnership/relationship amongst the administration, teachers, and parents; and to facilitate effective communication in a positive environment of cooperation for all persons affiliated with the Ithan Elementary School.

ARTICLE III – MEMBERSHIP

The membership of the Organization shall consist of all members of the school staff, the principal, any vice-principal, and all parents of and guardians of children attending Ithan Elementary School.

ARTICLE IV – OFFICERS

  1. The officers of the Organization shall consist of a President, Vice-President of Clubs, Vice-President of Fundraising, Vice-President of Communications, and Treasurer. If any one of these positions are shared, both persons would be Officers.
  2. The President of the Organization shall have served on the Board of Directors for a minimum of one year prior to assuming his/her position.
  3. The President shall serve a one-year term. He/she shall be eligible for re-election to that position the year following his/her expired term.
  4. The officers of the Organization shall be elected annually by the general membership by written ballot in May of each year. Their term shall begin September 1 and shall end August one or two years following.
  5. The President shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the Organization. He/she shall preside at all meetings of the Board of Directors. He/she shall, with the approval of the Directors, appoint chairpersons of all standing and temporary committees. The President shall create and maintain an Institutional Record, a copy of which shall be available in the principal’s office.
  6. The Vice-President shall serve a two-year term. He/she shall, in the absence or disability of the President, perform the duties and exercise the powers of the President and shall perform such other duties as shall be requested by the Directors and the President. It is recommended that the Vice-President assumes the responsibility for at least one standing committee. He/she shall be eligible for re-election to the Board as President the year following his/her term.
  7. The Vice-President of Communications shall keep accurate records of the proceedings of all meetings of the Organization and of the Directors and shall be responsible for giving prompt notice to both the Organization and the Directors of their respective meetings. He/she shall submit general board minutes to the Board of Directors as well as the PTO website. He/she will task the Chairperson of each committee to take pictures and submit to him/her in order to publicize IES events through RTSD Communications Coordinator. He/she will also, at the minimum but not limited to, communicate monthly with the total membership through the IES PTO Newsletter. The Vice-President of Communications will submit all content to the RTSD Communications Coordinator for the weekly newsletter. He/she will also oversee the PTO Webmaster(s) and their content of material on the website.The Vice-President of Communicationsshall serve a two- year term.
  8. The Treasurer shall have custody of the Organization’s funds and shall keep account of all receipts and disbursements in books belonging to the Organization. He/she shall deposit all money in the name of and to the credit of the Organization in such depositories as shall be designated by the Directors. These deposits shall be made on a timely basis; in no event more than one week from date of receipt by the Treasurer. It shall be the policy to issue written receipts to all persons delivering cash to the Treasurer. He/she shall disburse funds as ordered or authorized by the Directors. The Treasurer shall serve a two-year term.

The Treasurer shall provide a written report, including up-to-date receipts and disbursements, to the Board of Directors at each of the Board meetings.

An annual audit of the books of the Organization shall be made. The Treasurer and all the Officers up to five (5) shall be bonded.

  1. Checks of less than $500.00 drawn upon bank accounts maintained by the Organization shall require one (1) signature. Checks in excess of $500.00 drawn upon bank accounts maintained by the Organization shall require two (2) signatures. Only bonded Officers have the authority to sign the checks of the Organization. The Treasurer must have a second signature for any check written to him/herself for an amount in excess of $50.01. The monthly bank statements shall be mailed directly from the bank to an Officer, other than the Treasurer, for review. The bank statement will be hand delivered, in a timely manner, to the Treasurer, so he/she may reconcile the account.
  2. The Officers and Directors of the Organization shall perform such other duties as are commonly associated with their offices together with such other duties as may be assigned to them by the Board of Directors.
  3. The Officers of the Organization have the authority to approve expenditures up to $200.00 without board approval.
  4. Any vacancy of any office shall be filled by special election of the Directors at their next meeting following the event causing the vacancy.
  5. The Officers shall meet at least once each month of the school year.

ARTICLE V – DIRECTORS

  1. The Directors, including the Officers, shall consist of at least fifteen (15) members and not more than 32 members to be elected by the membership. Only directors have authority to vote at the PTO meetings. Two-thirds of attending Directors shall constitute a quorum at each meeting. In addition, the Principal of Ithan Elementary School shall serve as a Director and shall appoint at least two, but not more than four faculty members to serve on the Board of Directors.
  2. The term of a Director shall be two years, encompassing two academic years. Exception: If a person is elected to the Executive Board while serving the second year of the two-year term, he/she may serve an additional term. This term shall begin at the June PTO meeting and shall end at the same meeting two years later.
  3. Members of the Board of Directors may not be elected to second successive terms but will be eligible for election the year following their expired terms. The term or any director shall be deemed vacant when he/she ceases to qualify for membership in the Organization. Vacancies shall be filled first from the alternate list; if there is not an alternate list, nominations shall be placed and voted upon by the Directors.
  1. The Directors shall formulate the objectives and policies of the Organization, shall supervise the execution thereof, and shall generally manage the affairs of the Organization.
  2. A special meeting of the Directors may be called with less than ten (10) days notice, provided there is a quorum. The call for such meeting shall state the nature of business to be considered. Two-thirds of the Directors shall constitute a quorum.

ARTICLE VI – GENERAL MEMBERS

  1. All members of the Organization are encouraged to attend all PTO meetings.
  2. General meetings of the Organization shall be held the first Wednesday of September with at least 3 subsequent meetings being held throughout the school year.
  3. The members present at any General meeting of the Organization shall constitute a quorum, and a vote of a majority of the members present shall decide any question.

ARTICLE VII – NOMINATIONS

On or before January 15th of each year, the Directors shall appoint a Nominating Committee consisting of nine (9) members including a chairperson, a faculty member and Officer, and six(6) members, at least three (3) of whom shall be Directors.

In preparing the slate of nominees, the Nominating Committee shall:

  1. Solicit self-nominations for the offices to be filled by means of a form sent to all members of the Organization. Returning Directors and current committee chairs shall receive an independent mailing with a specific deadline for self-nomination for executive board positions, followed by a school-wide correspondence via the Organization’s newsletter also including said deadline.
  2. Not be limited to the self-nominated candidates. Shall seek to select nominees with regard to the consideration of criteria such as: past service to the Organization, geographical distribution, time in the community, and grade representation.
  3. Have the opportunity to present a single or contested slate to the membership of the organization at the discretion of the committee.
  4. Review the terms of the existing Board and rotate Board members according to their two year tenure.
  5. Fill the available positions through a variety of means including self-nominations, recruitment using lists provided by the volunteer coordinator, attendance sheets from Board meetings, lists of the homeroom parents as listed in the directory and referrals from Board members and committee chairs.
  6. Advise members nominated for Board positions that their name will appear on the slate, and confirm that, if elected, the candidate is willing to serve in the office for which he/she is nominated. Refer nominees to the Directory or the Website for complete job descriptions as described in the by-laws and the committee descriptions therein.
  7. Provide committee chairs with confirmation of their selection along with the names of co- chairs and committee members.

The Nominating committee shall submit the perspective candidates’ names to the Board of Directors at the May meeting. The Board of Directors shall vote on the Nominating Committee’s slate and shall submit to the general membership a ballot consisting of a slate of one or more candidates for the available office(s) of Directors(s). Write-in nominations may be made on the ballot by the Organization’s members.

The members of the Organization will vote by written ballot to returned no later than May 15th. The candidates will be chosen based on the ballots returned. Results will be communicated to the Organization membership via an end-of-the-year newsletter.

ARTICLE VIII – COMMITTEES
The organization shall maintain standing committees and temporary committees as the President and Directors shall create from time to time.The Chairperson of each committee shall be appointed by the President with the approval of the Directors.

ARTICLE IX – FISCAL YEAR
The fiscal year of the Organization shall end August 31.

ARTICLE X – AMENDMENTS
These by-laws may be amended at any Board meeting provided the amendments was/were submitted to the general membership, in writing, at least fifteen (15) days in advance of the meeting. Any amendment requires a simple majority of respondents to be approved.

These by-laws should be reviewed annually by the PTO Board of Directors and revised as necessary. These by-laws shall be used as the governing guidelines of the Organization.

ARTICLE XI
These by-laws shall be published annually in the PTO RTSD School directory, the Ithan Elementary Website and shall be made available in the Ithan Elementary School Library.

ARTICLE XII – All previous by—laws are hereby repealed.

ARTICLE XIII – Newsletters and the Website

The purpose of Newsletters and the Ithan Elementary PTO Website is to communicate all Ithan related PTO activities. Any requests from Radnor Township, Radnor School district, civic organizations or special interest groups which involve activities outside of Ithan Elementary must be examined to insure that such activities promote student interests primarily, rather than the special interests of any particular group.

All materials or activities proposed by outside sources for student or staff use or participation shall be reviewed by the Editorial Board or designees on the basis of:

  1. Educational value to the total school program
  2. Benefits to pupils
  3. Advancement of the name, product or special interest if the proposing group
  4. Factual accuracy
  5. Good taste

The Editorial Board will include the Officers of the PTO Executive Board and the Ithan School Principal.

ARTICLE XIV – RETURNED CHECKS

Any person writing a check to the PTO is responsible for that check. If a check is returned by the bank, the person who has written the check is responsible to the PTO for the original amount of the check as well as any bank fees that the Organization has incurred due to the check bouncing.