Guest hornet7879 Posted August 10, 2011 at 03:26 AM Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 at 03:26 AM We are a ptc and we are in the process of changing our by-laws to add a new school in our district. The problem is who is eligible to vote. Our by laws read:Sect. 1 Classes of Membership.There shall be the following classes of members.A Regular Members. Regular members shall be those households containing a child or children enrolled at elementary school A, in the current academic year, and submitting a completed application for membership. Regular members have the rights of membership.C.Membership year. Themembership year shall run from Oct 1 of the currentyear to Sept 30th of the subsequent year.The question is: If I have a student that was previously in this school but is now moving on to the new school that we are looking to add to our organization, am I still a member until October of this year?I appreciate any help you may be able to supply, because we need to know who is eligible to vote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shmuel Gerber Posted August 10, 2011 at 03:57 AM Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 at 03:57 AM We are a ptc and we are in the process of changing our by-laws to add a new school in our district. The problem is who is eligible to vote. Our by laws read:Sect. 1 Classes of Membership.There shall be the following classes of members.A Regular Members. Regular members shall be those households containing a child or children enrolled at elementary school A, in the current academic year, and submitting a completed application for membership. Regular members have the rights of membership.C.Membership year. Themembership year shall run from Oct 1 of the currentyear to Sept 30th of the subsequent year.The question is: If I have a student that was previously in this school but is now moving on to the new school that we are looking to add to our organization, am I still a member until October of this year?I appreciate any help you may be able to supply, because we need to know who is eligible to vote.You're a member as long as you're a member according to your bylaws. It's up to the organization to interpret its own bylaws, but normally the length of the membership year has no effect on eligibility for membership. In other words, there is no rule in RONR that you automatically remain a member just because you were a member at the start of the membership year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted August 10, 2011 at 09:25 AM Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 at 09:25 AM The membership clause does not refer to the Membership Year, but rather to the "current academic year". Is that year defined anywhere in the bylaws? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Foulkes Posted August 10, 2011 at 10:35 AM Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 at 10:35 AM A Regular Members. Regular members shall be those households containing a child or children enrolled at elementary school A, in the current academic year, and submitting a completed application for membership. Regular members have the rights of membership.The question is: If I have a student that was previously in this school but is now moving on to the new school that we are looking to add to our organization, am I still a member until October of this year?Do you have a child or children currently enrolled in elementary school A in the current academic year? I'd say the answer to that question answers your question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornet7879 Posted August 10, 2011 at 11:50 AM Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 at 11:50 AM Do you have a child or children currently enrolled in elementary school A in the current academic year? I'd say the answer to that question answers your question.No, the by-laws do not refer to current academic year. As for if I have a child there, no, many do not as we have had many changes within the school district. We had 2 elementary schools(k-4) and one Middle School (5-8). Due to cut backs, we closed one elementary school, changed the dynamics of the middle school. The Middle School is now (6-8) and a new "intermediate school" (4-5) was created within the middle school. We are going to combine the PTO's of the 2 elementary schools into one and are going to include the intermediate school in the PTO. The problem is that as we read the bylaws, the parents of the students now enrolled in the intermediate school do not have any voting rights until they by laws are changed. As we read the bylaws the articles seem to contradict. We want to know who would have voting rights at the first meeting to which we will be voting on the new bylaw changes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David A Foulkes Posted August 10, 2011 at 02:19 PM Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 at 02:19 PM No, the by-laws do not refer to current academic year.I suspect it would be easy enough to say it goes from the first day of school to the last, but it would be helpful to have that defined in the bylaws.As for if I have a child there, no[.]Ummm.... well.... Due to cut backs, we closed one elementary school[.]Well, if this was Elementary School A (as noted in your bylaws per your reference) then shame on someone for doing all this without making sure the bylaws got promptly updated. As we read the bylaws the articles seem to contradict. We want to know who would have voting rights at the first meeting to which we will be voting on the new bylaw changesAnd this is what it really comes down to - your bylaws. Any seeming contradiction or ambiguity needs to be resolved by the (voting) membership, and it is the composition of this group that is in question due to the bylaws. Catch-22, sorta. See RONR (10th Ed.) pages 570-573 for some insights into bylaw interpretation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornet7879 Posted August 10, 2011 at 02:22 PM Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 at 02:22 PM I suspect it would be easy enough to say it goes from the first day of school to the last, but it would be helpful to have that defined in the bylaws.Ummm.... well.... Well, if this was Elementary School A (as noted in your bylaws per your reference) then shame on someone for doing all this without making sure the bylaws got promptly updated.And this is what it really comes down to - your bylaws. Any seeming contradiction or ambiguity needs to be resolved by the (voting) membership, and it is the composition of this group that is in question due to the bylaws. Catch-22, sorta. See RONR (10th Ed.) pages 570-573 for some insights into bylaw interpretation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornet7879 Posted August 10, 2011 at 02:25 PM Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 at 02:25 PM Thank you for your insight. Actually these changes came about within the last week of school so we did not have the time to make any changes, as we were unaware of the closing of one school and establishing of the new intermediate school. Many people either fall into my catagory where I had a child at the school and now they will be attending the new school as well as those parents from the closing school that fall into that catagory. I will check out the pages you have referenced. Thank you for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Novosielski Posted August 11, 2011 at 02:27 AM Report Share Posted August 11, 2011 at 02:27 AM Sect. 1 Classes of Membership.There shall be the following classes of members.A Regular Members. Regular members shall be those households containing a child or children enrolled at elementary school A, in the current academic year, and submitting a completed application for membership. Regular members have the rights of membership.No, the by-laws do not refer to current academic year. Well, one of you is wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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