Bylaws

Bylaws of the Home and School Association
St. John the Baptist Elementary School
St. John the Baptist Middle School
Draper, Utah

Article I

Name
The name of the organization shall be the Home and School Association of St. John the Baptist Elementary and Middle Schools, (hereafter called the “Association” or “HSA”).

Article II

Purpose
The Association will support, implement, and advance the philosophy of St. John the Baptist Elementary and Middle Schools.  It will reflect Christian principles while promoting at all times the spiritual, moral intellectual and physical training of students.  The HSA shall:

• Promote open communication among parents, teachers, and administration.

• Provide parents and teachers with information designed to aid in all aspects of education, growth, and development.

• Promote good will, cooperation, and Christian values between and among parents, faculty and administration.

• Direct and coordinate parental support to St. John the Baptist Elementary and Middle Schools through the volunteer program, assistance activities, social functions, and fundraisers.

• Direct and coordinate financial support through fundraising efforts that strive to meet the annual set goal.

• Support any project requested by the bishop, superintendent, administrator, or principal.

Article III

Membership and Fees
Section 1:
Members shall consist of the parents and guardians of the students and the faculty members of St. John the Baptist Elementary and Middle Schools.
Section 2:
Dues shall be determined by the HSA and payable annually at registration if deemed necessary.  Dues shall be used for HSA activities, e.g. classroom parties, playground attendants, fundraising, and/or any other uses approved by the HSA.

Article IV

Executive Committee
Section 1:
The affairs of the HSA shall be administered by an executive committee comprised of four Association officers, the chairpersons of all standing and ad hoc committees, the principals of both the Elementary and Middle schools, and any ex-officio members.
Section 2:

The executive committee shall conduct HSA business affairs by:

• Providing general meeting programs of interest.
• Forming committees deemed necessary and appropriate.
• Reviewing all committee recommendations and reporting their final disposition.
• Reviewing and recommending to HSA members disbursements of money collected from dues, fundraising events, and contributions.

Section 3:
The executive committee will meet monthly, or otherwise as needed, during the school year.

Article V

Officers and duties
Section 1:
The officers of the Association shall consist of a president, vice president, secretary and treasurer.
Section 2:
Ex-officio members shall include, but not be limited to, the principals of St. John the Baptist Elementary and Middle Schools, the St. John the Baptist Schools development director, and a faculty representative from St. John the Baptist Elementary and St. John the Baptist Middle Schools.  Additional ex-officio members may be appointed by the president of the Association.
Section 3:
The duties of HSA officers shall be defined as follows:

The president shall:

• Preside at and administer all regular, special, and executive committee meetings.
• Call special meetings of the HAS executive committee.
• Serve as the official spokesperson for the Association.
• Serve as an ex-offficio member of all HSA standing and ad hoc committees.

The vice-president shall:

• Assume the duties of the president in his/her absence.
• Serve as the HSA representative to the St. John the Baptist School Board.
• Perform any other duties designated by the president.
• Assist in the formation of all committees and serve as an ex-officio member.
• Assure that committees meet goals and report results and recommendations to the HSA.
• The vice-president shall succeed to the office of president.

The secretary shall:

• Record and make available to members copies of the minutes of all executive committee and general meetings.
• Conduct the correspondence of the Association and maintain a current file of minutes, reports, records and other correspondence.
• Record and correct the bylaws of the Association.
• Perform additional duties designated by the president.
• Publicize meetings and functions of the Association.
• Record and approve minutes one week following each meeting and disburse such to the president, school board, and post on each school’s bulletin board for the general population.

The treasurer shall:

• Collect and deposit all moneys from dues, fund raisers, etc.
• Be appointed to all fund raising committees in an effort to prepare fund raising reports.
• Maintain records of all receipts and expenditures.
• Review and recommend payment of bills to the president.
• Provide a written cash accounting at general membership meetings of all income and expenditures.
• Perform additional duties designated by the president.

Article VI

Election and Tenure of Officers
Section 1:
The term of office for all officers shall be one year with the exception of treasurer elect holding term for two years. The vice president automatically becomes president elect and will assume the presidency the following year. No person shall hold any one elected position for more than two consecutive years.
Section 2:
Elections of the vice president, secretary, and treasurer will occur in May by written ballot via a method chosen by an elections committee, e.g. envelope system, voting at the school or in the office.  Each officer will assume their elected positions at the close of the May membership meeting.
Section 3:
Candidates shall be solicited from the Association membership during March. A nominating committee consisting of at least three members will be appointed by the executive committee.  The nominating committee will solicit applications for each office and announce the nominees in the school newsletter at least thirty days prior to the election.  Candidates will be provided opportunities to present their qualifications to the membership in written form.
Section 4:
If an officer is unable to complete the term of office, nominations will be sought and the membership will elect a replacement as soon as possible, either at a general meeting or through the family envelope system.  Any officer who fails to fulfill the obligations of the office or cannot represent the school in a positive manner may be removed from office by majority vote of the executive committee.

Article VII

Committees and Committee Chairs
Section 1:
All members of the Association are eligible to chair or serve as members of committees. Committee chairpersons shall be appointed by the incoming and outgoing officers immediately following officer elections in May.  The term of service for chairpersons shall be one year.  Each committee shall prepare a report of committee business to be presented at each executive monthly meeting.  An elected officer cannot hold a committee chairperson position unless a chair position remains vacant following the appointment of committee chairs and a suitable candidate cannot be found.
Section 2:
The Association shall maintain the following standing committees:

• Public Relations

Works in collaboration with the school development director and committee. Assists the Association and aids any other committees in communicating events to the school and community.  Maximizes opportunities to provide encouragement and recognition to staff parents, teachers, and students of the schools.  Solicits input, prepares, and distributes the monthly school newsletter.

• Volunteers

Coordinates volunteer participation required of all families in the schools.

• Fund Raising

Works in collaboration with the school development director.  Each individual fund raising project shall have its own committee, i.e.: magazine drive, Blizzard Ball, etc.  Each project chair will coordinate and report to the fund raising chairperson.  Coordination of fund raising events and goals will be overseen by the fund raising chair in collaboration with the development director.

• Room Parents

Committee is comprised of all room parents, with room parent coordinator serving as chairperson.  Coordinates class parties and other individual class events.  Helps teacher with volunteers, field trips, etc.

• Middle School Liaison

Works in conjunction with the middle school principals, teachers, staff, and parents to coordinate middle school events and projects.

• Community Building

Coordinates community building events to support St. John the Baptist Schools through social functions, i.e. mother/daughter dance, father/son social, etc.

• Social Justice

Coordinates social justice activities for the St. John the Baptist Schools to help promote Christian values between parents, faculty, administration, the parish and the community.

Section 3:
Ad Hoc committees shall be formed as needed by the HSA officers or executive committee and will disband when the need has been met.
Section 4:
Committee chairperson duties are as follows:

The volunteer committee chair shall:

• Keep a record of volunteer agreements and service hours performed by each family.
• Publicize volunteer opportunities in the weekly family bulletin and the HSA newsletter.
• Keep principals advised of volunteer commitment and needs.

The fund raising chair shall:

• Oversee all fund raising activities for the HSA.
• Communicate goals, results and incentives to parents and students.
• Organize chairpersons and other volunteers needed to execute fund raisers.
• Communicate with the school’s development director about activities and opportunities.
• Perform other duties designated by the president.

The public relations chair shall:

• Publicize all meetings, functions, and activities of the HSA newsletter in the school bulletin, the Intermountain Catholic newspaper and other news media.
• Gather information and publish a HSA newsletter with distribution to all school families and interested patrons.
• Communicate and coordinate activities with the development director.
• Organize a committee to keep a scrapbook of each school year to include photos, news clippings, the yearbook, etc.
• Perform other duties designated by the president.

The room parent coordinator shall:

• Meet with all room parents a minimum of four times during the school year to communicate upcoming events and responsibilities.
• Set up a communication network of room parents.
• Perform other duties as designated by the president.

The middle school liaison shall:

• Meet with the middle school principals on a regular basis to stay abreast of needs of the principals, teachers, and students of the middle school.
• Coordinate volunteers to staff middle school events and projects and oversee such events and projects.
• Perform other duties as designated by the president.

The community building chairperson shall:

• Solicit for chairperson for individual social events and oversee each event.
• Coordinate volunteers to provide hospitality at functions as needed.
• Perform other duties as designated by the president.

The social justice chairperson shall:

• Solicit and provide service opportunities for students of both the elementary and middle schools.
• Coordinate volunteers to assist or chair the advent service project and the lenten service project.
• Assist with social justice functions as needed at both schools.
• Perform other duties as designated by the president.

Article VIII

Ex-Officio Members
The principals and development director are ongoing members of the executive committee. The faculty representatives may be chosen by the faculty for a year long term or designated on a rotating basis for purposes of attending executive committee meetings. The faculty representative shall serve as liaison between the staff of the school and the committee; bring questions, concerns, and suggestions to committee meetings and report back to faculty on HSA activities.  Each school will provide a faculty representative.

Article IX

Membership
General membership meetings of the Association shall be held quarterly throughout the year. A special meeting of the Association may be called at any time by the president, with the approval of the principals, with no less than 48 hours notice. The first meeting of the year will be in conjunction with the parent orientation night.

Article X

Parliamentary Authority
Proceedings of the organization shall be governed according to Robert’s Rules of Order. For general or special meetings of the Association, a quorum shall consist of 10 percent of the membership. For executive committee meetings, a quorum shall consist of a majority of the voting membership. Each individual parent or guardian shall be allowed one vote and shall be considered a voting member.  Unless exempted by the presiding officer, member speeches shall be limited to three minutes.

Article XI

Finances
Section 1:
The profits of each fund raiser sponsored by the HSA will be given to the school accountant to pay for the designated items, programs, or purposes served by the event.
Section 2:
All Blizzard Ball and Scrip profits have been designated by HSA to be used to finance school needed programs, etc. in both the elementary and middle schools.  This designation remains in effect until such funds are voted upon and redesignated by an HSA vote.
Section 3:
The HSA accountant may keep up to what is deemed acceptable by the principals of the schools and the president of HSA.  This amount is determined at the end of the year finance meeting between the principals and the executive committee.
Section 4:
Receipts must be submitted before reimbursements are made.
Section 5:
Financial reports shall be reviewed annually by the executive committee.

Article XII

Amendments
The bylaws of the Association may be amended by a majority vote of the members at any regular meeting. The amendment must be communicated in writing to the membership at least 10 days prior to the vote.

Bylaws established March, 2000.
Bylaws amended August, 2005.