Bill Crothers Secondary School School Council Constitution

Article 1: Name and Address

The organization will be known as Bill Crothers Secondary School Council (“the Council”). The members of the Council shall be responsible for maintaining the constitution.

The contact details for the Council are as follows:

Bill Crothers Secondary School

44 Main Street

Unionville, Ontario

L3R 2E4

(905) 477-8503

Article 2: Mission Statement

The mission of the Bill Crothers Secondary School Council is to support student academic and athletic achievement by engaging parents, staff, students, and the community in our shared responsibility to facilitate student success, while supporting BCSS's focus on learning through healthy active living and athletics.

Article 3: Purpose and Objectives

The objectives of the Council are to:

Support the school’s vision and mission statements.
Advocate for learning through healthy active living.
Encourage effective parental involvement in the education of all students.
Facilitate the building of a school community, which works together in the best interests of our students and their education.
Provide a means for regular communication and dialogue between all partners in education.
Participate in the School Plan for Continuous Improvement (SPCI).
Provide input into decisions made by the school administration, the York Region District School Board (“the Board”, YRDSB) and the Ministry.
Fundraise to enhance the school life of and opportunities for our students.

Article 4: Procedures and Operating Guidelines

The operational procedures of this Council are outlined in YRDSB Procedure #262 (see Appendix 1). All recommendations and activities of the Council shall comply with all Ministry of Education Acts, York Region District School Board Policies and Procedures and Staff Collective Agreements.

Article 5: Membership

5.1 Number of Parent Members

Membership will be defined at the beginning of the school year based on the outcome of the School Council election process as outlined in Article 7.

5.2 Number of Student Members

The student representative (1) will be the Commissioner of Colts Council or designated alternate.

5.3 Number of Community Representatives

The number of community representatives will be one (1), if available.

5.4 Other Members

Other members such as teacher representative (2), support staff representative (1) and Principal/Vice-Principal (2) shall be elected or appointed in accordance with YRDSB Policy #262.

5.5 Roles and Responsibilities of all Council Members

All Council members will:

Regularly attend and participate in Council meetings;
Maintain a school-wide perspective on issues;
Help to achieve the goals established by the Council;
Encourage the participation of all parents and of other people within the school community;
Participate in one or more of Council’s standing committees (see article 8), and assist with tasks of the committee(s) and of Council as required;
If a Council member misses two (2) consecutive meetings, the Council may choose to remove his or her name from the active list, unless they have made a request to the Chair or Co-Chairs that they remain active, and such request is accepted as valid.
All parents are invited to attend Council meetings as guests of Council and speak to issues, but voting will be restricted to active Council members.
Send regrets to the secretary if they cannot attend the council meeting.
Support all council initiatives

5.6 Terms of Office

A term of office is one (1) year.
Elected and appointed parent members of Council may seek additional terms of office.
If a member in an Executive position cannot fulfill his/her responsibilities, he/she must submit a letter of resignation to the chair.
Transfer of responsibilities for Executive members will occur at the close of the first Council meeting of the school year.

Article 6: Executive

6.1 Officer Positions

The Council Executive will consist of a Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer; or two (2) Co-Chairs, Secretary and Treasurer.

6.2 Roles and Responsibilities

6.2.1 Chair or Co-Chairs

The Chair or Co-Chairs of the School Council shall:

Call Council meetings (minimum 4 per year) in consultation with the principal;
Communicate with parents about matters under consideration by the Council;
Prepare the agenda for Council meetings in consultation with the principal and the Executive members;
Ensure the agenda is distributed to Council members, seven days prior to an upcoming meeting;
Chair Council meetings according to the agenda;
Ensure the minutes of Council meetings are communicated appropriately to Council members within fourteen days following each Council meeting;
Ensure the BCSS School Council Constitution is readily available to the school community;
Communicate with and provide advice to the school principal on behalf of the Council
Participate in information sessions;
Consult with senior Board staff and trustees, as required; and
After consultation with the Executive, have the authority to approve urgent/emergent expenditures up to $300, between Council meetings.

6.2.2. Vice-Chair

The Vice-Chair of the Council shall:

Assist the Chair in carrying out his or her responsibilities;
Act on behalf of the Chair in the event of his or her absence;
Perform duties of Secretary and Treasurer in their absence. When there are two Co-Chairs; one of the Co-Chairs will fulfill this role.

6.2.3 Secretary

The Secretary of the Council shall:

Record, maintain and distribute minutes of meetings within fourteen days following each meeting;
Receive membership applications and establish the membership list for distribution;
Keep Council Executive and membership lists up to date;
Determine who is eligible to vote at the outset of each meeting; and
Confirm that a quorum is present at a Council meeting if and when voting is required.

6.2.4 Treasurer

The Treasurer of Council shall:

Be a member of the Fundraising Committee
Keep a proper record of all receipts and disbursements of BCSS for the current fiscal year;
Prepare financial updates for each Council meeting;
Perform all duties in accordance with the Ministry of Education Regulation 612; YRDSB Policies 262 School Councils and 676.0 School Fundraising and Administration of School Generated Funds and Procedure NP133: Financial Management for School Councils and Other Parent Fundraising Groups.

6.3 Guidelines for Executives

The Executive has the responsibility of facilitating the operation of the Council, but has no additional powers over and above the broader School Council;
The responsibilities of the individual Executive representatives are as outlined above; individuals holding these positions have the same decision making powers and responsibilities as all other Members of Council;
The Executive defers to the Council as a whole for all decisions made on behalf of the Council;
Nominations for Executive positions will be made on a volunteer basis;
Executive appointments shall be by acclamation when the number of candidates is not more than one for each position; and
If more than one member seeks nomination for a particular Executive position, procedures will be as outlined in Article 7.2.
Executive members must inform the Chair or Co-Chairs if they are going to be absent from a Council meeting.

Article 7: Elections

7.1 Election Timetable

Elections must be held during the first 30 calendar days of each school year, as outlined in YRDSB Procedure #262.

7.2 Election Procedures for Executive Members

The following process is used to elect executive members of Council:

At the first meeting of Council, following the election of parent members, the assembled Council will entertain nominations for Executive positions.
Each parent/guardian seeking election for an Executive position must: be nominated or self nominated in writing, must be present for the election, must have a child registered at the school, must declare if he or she is employed by the Board, and for the position of Chair, should have served on the Council as a Parent Member for a minimum of one year prior.
Nominations will be made on a volunteer basis, and Executive appointments shall be by acclamation when the number of candidates is not more than one for each position.
An employee of the Board cannot seek election as the Chair.
If more than one member seeks nomination for a particular Executive position, election procedures will be as follows:
1. Each Council member shall be entitled to one vote for each vacant Executive position on the Council;
2. The Vice-Principal shall: a)
  1. execute the election process
  2. count the ballots
  3. shall notify all individuals standing for election and all Council members of the results

7.3 Election of Parent Members

Each parent/guardian seeking membership must be nominated or self-nominated in writing, in the prescribed form, must be present for the election, must have a child registered at the school, and must declare if he or she is employed by the Board. Only one parent for each child may be a voting member of Council; however other parents may attend Council meetings.
Nomination forms are requested at, or prior to, the first Council meeting in September.
Parent member elections shall be by acclamation.
The names and number of parent members forming the School Council shall be determined and communicated at the first Council meeting in September by the election committee as described in 7.2(e)ii and iii.

7.4 Vacancies

A vacancy in parent members does not prevent the Council from exercising its authority.
Parent member positions that become vacant due to resignation shall be filled at the discretion of the Chair/Principal/Governance Committee
At the discretion of the Chair/Principal/Governance Committee, council members’ positions shall be filled as soon as possible by informing the parent community of the vacancy/vacancies and accepting nominations.
Executive positions that become vacant during the school year, shall be filled internally from the group of existing council members, at the discretion of the Chair/Principal/Governance Committee.
If deemed necessary by the Governance Committee, parent member positions shall be filled as soon as possible by informing the parent community of the vacancy/vacancies and accepting nominations.

7.5 Resignations

Any Council member, except the Principal, may resign his/her position by submitting a letter of resignation to the Chair or Co-Chair.

Article 8: Standing Committees

8.1 Establishment

The following standing committees will be formed to:

Conduct more detailed or in-depth work than is possible during Council meetings;
Make recommendations to the Council;
Set out timelines to achieve their established goals;
Keep Council informed of issues and developments in its committee at each Council meeting; and
Execute planned activities.

8.2 Standing Committee Mandates

Fundraising

The School Council evaluates fundraising needs on a year-to-year basis. The Fundraising Committee will develop a plan to meet the fundraising requirements. The Fundraising Committee Chair will present the plan to the Council for consideration. Upon acceptance by the Council, the committee will execute the plan as required. The Fundraising Committee will set up a reference binder outlining all fundraising ideas/success’s for future reference.

Governance

This Committee exists to ensure that the Constitution of the Council remains vibrant, reflecting and representing all members of the School Community and entrenches the principles of inclusion and renewal. This Committee will review the constitution biannually, co-ordinate and run elections, deal with requests for comment by the School Board as directed by the Council. In addition to this, the Committee will work with the Principal to communicate the Council priorities for the School Plan for Continuous Improvement.

School Plan for Continuous Improvement

This Committee works with staff on the SPCI as required. Parent Engagement This committee will focus on encouraging active participation of parents from council and the greater BCSS parent community.

Community Outreach

As part of the school’s mandate to give back to the community at large, the committee will provide support for the school’s outreach activities as needed, and foster an altruistic awareness of the greater world community to all stakeholders.

Graduation Award

This Committee will decide upon the “Written Submission” question for the Council’s Torch Award, consider feedback from the previous year about the evaluation process, refine the evaluation form as necessary and be responsible for purchasing the individual trophy and arranging for the engraving on the school trophy.

8.3 Standing Committee Membership

All Council members are encouraged to participate in one or more standing committee and assist with tasks of the committee as required.
Persons who are not members of Council may be members of sub-committees.
Meetings shall be governed by the same normative rules that govern the council with respect to membership, attendance and voting.

8.4 Chairs of Standing Committees

Each sub-committee must be chaired by a Council member

8.5 Other Committees

Additional committees may be formed as the need arises.

Article 9: Meeting

9.1 Timetable of Meetings

The Council will meet a minimum of four times and up to six times throughout the school year;
A copy of these dates and times will be included in communication(s) to the families of the school; and
It is recognized that the timetable may change at any time.

9.2 Quorum

A meeting will have quorum if:

The majority of Council members are present; and
The majority of those present are parents. A meeting of Council can be held if there is not quorum but all voting will be deferred.

9.3 Decision-making

The preferred method to resolve issues on Council is by consensus. Consensus is a collective opinion or general agreement by ALL the Council members. In the case where a decision cannot be reached through consensus, the chair may decide on one of the following:

To have a vote by way of a show of hands or a silent vote by those present in which a 51% majority shall carry the vote, except for expenditures, which will require an 80% majority;
To defer the issue to the next meeting;
To defer the issue to a special meeting; or
To defer the issue to a standing committee.

9.4 Conflict of Interest

If individual Council members perceive themselves to be in conflict of interest, they are honour bound to declare their conflict at the earliest possible opportunity and at the time of the meeting, so the minutes may reflect this declaration.
Council members cannot receive any remuneration for their work as a member of Council.

9.5 Conflict Resolution

The Council will undertake to resolve all internal conflicts within its mandate in a timely manner.
The Council will abide by any conflict resolution policy issued by the Board.

Article 10: Financial Records

10.1 Disbursement and Allocation of Money

All money must be collected by the end of the year.
Funds should be dispersed or allocated to a specific purpose by the end of the year.
Council must approve the allocation of all Council raised funds.

Article 11: Agendas and Minutes

11.1 Agendas

Agenda items should be submitted to the chair one week prior to the Council's next meeting.
The Chair will set the agenda with the principal, prior to the meeting.
The agenda will be made available to members and posted prior to the Council meeting.

11.2 Minutes

Council approved minutes shall be posted in the school and on the school website.

Article 12: Constitutional Amendments

12.1 A committee will be formed to review the constitution; they will be known as the Governance Committee and be composed of active council members
12.2 The Governance Committee will work in collaboration of the Chair/Vice Chair and the Principal/Vice Principal
12.3 The Governance Committee will review the constitution every two years, or as the need arises.
12.4 The Governance committee can perform the review and bring proposed amendments to the Council for voting.
12.5 Amendments to the constitution must be presented to the Council, at a regularly scheduled meeting.
12.6 Constitutional amendments need a 2/3 majority to be passed.

Article 13: Annual Report

13.1 Pursuant to Section 4(c) of the York Region District School Board Procedure P262.0 (School Councils) the Bill Crothers Secondary School Council shall submit an annual report to the Director of Education including:

A list of members;
A summary of meetings held and attendance at those meetings;
A summary of the Council’s activities for the past year; and
A Treasurer’s report.

13.2 The BCSS Council shall make the annual report available to any member of the school community upon request.

Article 14: Records

Copies of all records/documents shall be deposited with the secretary of the Bill Crothers Secondary School and will serve as official copies for the record. The Chair and the Principal shall be responsible for the oversight of record keeping.

Article 15: Protection of School Council Members

School councils that are acting in accordance with Ministry legislation and all relevant Board policies and procedures and are protected legally by the Board.