Wamberal Public School P & C Association Bylaws

Last updated 18 August 2012

  1. Basis of rules
/ These rules are made under the constitution of Wamberal Public School Parents and Citizens Association and should be read in conjunction with it.
  1. Purpose of Association
/ The Association is formed for the benefit of the pupils of the school and to that end it will:
  1. Participate as much as possible in the activities of the school and communicate with all members of the school community
  2. Co-operate in the activities of the Federation of Parents & Citizens’ Association of New South Wales, it’s District and Regional councils; and
  3. Do such things as may promote the interests of public education

  1. The P & C Year
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  1. The financial year of the association shall close on December 31st each year
  2. The Annual General Meeting of the association shall be held in March of each year, in conjunction with and preceding the Ordinary General Meeting of that month.
  3. A General meeting of the Association shall be held on the third Monday of each month in term time at 7pm.
  4. Membership of the P & C will extend from the February meeting of each year to the close of the Annual General Meeting of the next year. People wishing to join for the purposes of participating in the Annual General Meeting or stand for office will need to have signed the P & C Membership form and paid their Membership fee by the end of the Februarymeeting of that year in order to be eligible.

  1. Notification of Meetings and Business
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  1. Items for discussion are to be published 8 days prior to a general meeting.
  2. The secretary must be notified of any items requiring discussion.
  3. Members of the association may give these items only.
  4. With the exception that if all members present at a general meeting agree, then items without notice may be debated but will only be carried if by a unanimous vote.

  1. Membership Fee
/ The agenda of the AGM shall include setting the membership fee of the Association for the ensuing year, which shall be $2.00 for 2012.
  1. Membership
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  1. Any person who is a parent or carer of a student enrolled at the school, staff member at the school or citizen living within the boundaries of the school is eligible to join.
  2. Any person eligible for membership may become a member or renew membership by
  3. Paying the required membership fee to the Treasurer or nominee of the Treasurer after any General Meeting and
  4. Writing a letter or filling out the P & C membership form, which can be downloaded from “website”. A written letter must be dated, contain explicit statement of intent to become a member of the Wamberal P & C, identify your eligibility and be signed by the person wishing to join.
  5. Whensomeone joinshis or her membership will not take effect until the end of the next general meeting when the Treasurer updates the membership register. This means a new member is not eligible to vote until the general meeting afterthe meeting they initially attend and join at. For example a new member who joins at the June general meeting will not be eligible to vote until the July general meeting.
  6. When someone joins in between general meetings, the same applies; their membership will not take effect until the end of the followinggeneral meeting when the Treasurer updates the membership register. They will then be eligible to vote at the next general meeting after the meeting at which the membership register is updated.
  7. New memberships will not be taken at special meetings.
  8. New memberships can be taken at the AGM, but new members will not be eligible to vote until the next meeting, which is the March general meeting (this usually takes place on the same night as the AGM, but after the business of the AGM is concluded).
  9. Membership shall remain current until the close of the AGM in the following year.
  10. The Treasurer shall be responsible for maintaining an up to date register of membership indicating the meeting in which the member became financial and when voting rights begin.
  11. This list shall form part of the Treasurers monthly report
  12. All new members are to be given a copy of the Constitution and By-Laws when they pay their initial membership fee.
  13. The Principal is an ex officio member of the P & C, they do not have to pay a membership fee and has the right to move motions and vote except when acting as Returning Officer at the AGM.

  1. Voting
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  1. Voting rights are as per membership eligibility. A new member who joins at one general meeting will not be eligible to vote until the register had been updated to reflect the new members, and this only occurs at the end of each meeting. In effect this means that new members will not be able to vote until the next meeting of the P & C.
  2. There will be no proxy voting.
  3. There will be no absentee votes.
  4. Where necessary, the President after consultation with the executive, may request via email, a vote on a specific item provided sufficient discussion has occurred and there is an appropriate timeframe and alternative arrangements are made for those P & C members who are not on email.

  1. Record of Volunteers
/ Conveners of all P & C activities are to create a register of volunteers involved in those activities. The register will be passed onto the Secretary at the completion of the activity.
  1. Quorum
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  1. At a General Meeting the quorum shall be 5 members (P & C Decision taken in June 2012).
  2. However, in instances in which a meeting goes ahead with only quorum, decisions to spend money will be capped at $5,000.
  3. If a meeting for which due notice has been given does not achieve a quorum within 15 minutes of the advertised starting time, the Secretary shall, or, in the absence of a Secretary, the remaining members of the Executive shall, and failing that, any 5 members of the Association may, call a further meeting (with a lapse of not more than 28 days of term time) to carry on the business of the Association.
  4. In the absence of the Secretary, the remaining members of the Executive or any five members of the association may call any meeting that is required, giving due notice of the business proposed for the meeting.

  1. Standing orders
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  1. All meetings of the Association shall be conducted in accordance with the appropriate By-Laws of Federation’s “Standing Orders for the Conduct of all Meetings.”
  2. The order of business shall follow that for the Federation Council Standing order 1C. Unfinished business on notice at the previous meeting shall be dealt with as: 1C(c) Matters arising from the Minutes.”

  1. Notice of Motion
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  1. As well as the provisions of Federation Standing Order 6 “Notice of Motion” a group of members of the Association equal to the quorum for the meeting may require that particular items of new business without notice be placed on notice for the next meeting.
  2. Any motion to expend Association monies on important items must be submitted in writing to be placed on notice for the meeting at which it is to be considered. (See Rule 4 of Bylaws).
  3. Requests from sub-committees shall come from the President or Treasurer of such Sub-Committee.
  4. Requests for sponsorship shall come from the Parent(s)/Guardian(s) or Child(ren) seeking sponsorship and should include cost to represent the school together with details of sponsorship sought elsewhere.
  5. With the exception that, if all members present at a General Meeting agree, then items without notice may be debated but will only be carried by a unanimous vote.
  6. The provision of such a rule should not hamper sub-committees from expending those monies necessary for normal running costs. In fact, a sub-committee’s powers to expend monies should be defined by the Association when the sub-committee is set up, e.g. an Auxiliary may need to buy materials for some fundraising activities.
  7. Under the guidelines for incorporating, all funds belong to the Association, and the Association must authorize expenditure. A sub-committee must not expend funds for any purpose outside those allowed by the Association. There is nothing however to prevent the Association setting up a sub-committee to raise funds for some particular goal, or a sub-committee recommending a particular use for the funds it has raised.
  8. Any motions passed which are of longstanding nature should be added to the Bylaws upon passing of such motion and all bylaws to be kept in a separate file with the Constitution by the Secretary for future reference.
  9. On receipt of an invoice, which has P & C Association approval prior to purchase, the P & C shall write a cheque to the school account for payment of the set invoice.
  10. School to be asked when badge maker is borrowed, only maker and cutters (2 of) be loaned. For each cutter borrowed a fee to be paid to Wamberal Public School P & C to cover the cost of replacement blade.
  11. All P & C sub-committees must provide notification of stock holdings for the period annually to the June meeting for the purpose of calculating insurance cover for the following year commencing 1st August.
  12. Wish list – annual P & C priorities be aligned to the school management plan for each calendar year as developed in term 4 of each year and must reflect changing priorities.
  13. The P & C President has a maximum 3-year consecutive term, with the option to stand for a further year if no nominations are received for this position. If a nomination is received, then the outgoing president is not eligible for nomination for the Presidents position.

  1. Representatives and Officers
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  1. The Association may elect representatives who will be responsible to the Association in the same way Federation Representatives are responsible to the Federation under section 4B of the Federation Policy. The Association may decide at the time of election what form of reporting is required.
  2. A General Meeting of the Association may declare any officer who has been absent from three success meetings as set out in Federation Bylaw 4®(iii) to have vacated their position and to have created a casual vacancy to be dealt with by means of Rule 6 of the Constitution.
  3. The office bearers may consist of
  4. President
  5. Vice President
  6. Treasurer
  7. Assistant Treasurer
  8. Minutes Secretary
  9. Correspondence secretary

  1. Life Membership
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  1. The Association may confer the honour of Life Membership on any member who has made a consistent and outstanding contribution to the work of the Association over a period of not less than 7 years
  2. Life members may attend and speak at meetings but are not entitled to vote or hold office unless they are also ordinary members in terms of Rule 6 (Membership) in these rules.

  1. Rule Making Power
/ When changes to Bylaws occur, all members/sub-committees shall be given a fresh copy.
  1. Annual General Meeting
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  1. The following offices shall be filled at the AGM:
  2. President
  3. Vice President (x2)
  4. Secretary
  5. Correspondence Secretary
  6. Treasurer
  7. Executive Members (x6)
  8. NSW P & C Federation Regional Delegate
  9. Sub-committee representatives:
  10. Canteen
  11. Uniform Shop
  12. Performing Arts
  13. Fundraising
  14. Chaplaincy
  15. Year 6 Farewell
  16. School Beautification
  17. Spring Fair (Biennially)
  18. Office bearers must be financial members of the P & C and not employed by the P & C Association.The same person can hold no more than one Officer Role. Members of the same family can hold office bearer positions at the same time.
  19. Standing items at the AGM must include:
  20. Election of Office Bearers
  21. Audited financial statements
  22. Appointment of the auditor
  23. Appointment of nominated officers for liaison work with the Tax Office (related to the canteen sub-committee)
  24. At the conclusion of the AGM all executive committee members shall be given a copy of:
  25. P & C Prescribed Constitution for Incorporated Association (see Handbook for P & C Associations)
  26. Current By-Laws
  27. Duties of Office Bearers (see fact sheets provided by P & C federation)

  1. Special Meetings
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  1. A Special meeting or extraordinary meeting can be called to discuss one or more specific matters which cannot be dealt with at the next general meeting because of urgency or some other declared reason.
  2. Only items for which notice has been given can be formally dealt with at the special meeting
  3. The P & C Secretary is required to give seven days notice and formal written notice of a special meeting (email is considered formal written notice), the time, place and business to be conducted at that meeting.
  4. New memberships will not be taken at a special meeting.

  1. Sub-Committees
/ At the conclusion of sub-committees AGM’s all executive committee members shall be given
  1. P & C Prescribed Constitution for Incorporated Association (see Handbook for P & C Associations)
  2. Current By-Laws
  3. Duties of Office Bearers (see fact sheets provided by P & C federation)
  4. Roles and Responsibilities of Sub-committees

These Bylaws supersede the Bylaws dated 19 March 2007.

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By Laws Last updated at P & C Meeting held 18 August 2012