Name: The name of the organization shall be the Parent‐Teacher Organization of the Ed Smith Pre-K-8 School, Syracuse, New York.
Tax Status: The Ed Smith School PTO is a not‐for‐profit educational organization filed under 501(C)3 of the IRS code.
Purpose: The organization will work to achieve a quality and equitable education for our children. It shall serve on behalf of the children as a forum for communication, understanding, support and cooperation among parents, guardians, faculty, administration, staff and community. It shall attempt to be inclusive of the diverse population of our community.
General Membership: The membership shall consist of all parents and/or legal guardians of Edward Smith Elementary School students, teachers, staff, and administrators of Edward Smith Elementary School.
- Section 1. The PTO shall hold at least six general membership meetings during the school year.
- Section 2. All meetings of the PTO shall be held at the Ed Smith School or a site that serves the Ed Smith School community.
Board of Directors: The Board of Directors shall consist of the elected officers, the chairs of all standing committees and one faculty representative. The elected officers shall be the President, the Vice‐President, the Corresponding Secretary, the Recording Secretary, the Treasurer and the Outreach Coordinator. The school administrators (Principal and/or Vice‐Principal) and the immediate Past‐President shall serve as ex‐officio members of the Board of Directors. The Executive Board consists of the elected officers, administrators and the faculty representative.
- Section 1. The Board of Directors shall convene and meet at least once monthly during the school year.
- Section 2. Special meetings may be called for any purpose by a majority of the Board of Directors or the President.
- Section 3. Executive decisions can be made jointly by the President and the Vice‐President when immediate decisions are necessary. The Board of Directors will then be notified by the next Board of Directors meeting.
- Section 4. A meeting of all new, continuing and outgoing members of the Board of Directors shall be held in June of each year.
Meetings:
- Section 1. The Board of Directors shall convene and meet at least once monthly during the school year. These meetings are open to all members of Ed Smith.
- Section 2. Special meetings may be called for any purpose by a majority of the Board of Directors or the President.
- Section 3. Six members of the Board of Directors shall constitute a quorum to transact business at meetings of the Board of Directors. A vote of a majority of those present shall be required to approve any matter before the Board of Directors.
- Section 4. On failure to attend three consecutive Board of Directors meetings or to submit a report to the president, a member of the Board of Directors shall be deemed to have resigned and a new member shall be nominated by the President to take his/her place.
Voting: Each member of the PTO organization (parents and/or legal guardians, teachers, staff and administrators) shall have one vote on matters concerning elections of officers or substantial financial expenditure.
All members of the Board of Directors shall have one vote on voting matters put before the Board of Directors by the Executive Board.
Duties of the Executive Board
- Section 1. President
- Presides over general membership meetings.
- Presides over meetings of the Board of Directors.
- Acts as ex‐officio member of all committees.
- Represents the PTO at faculty meetings or may designate a board or committee member to do so.
- Acts as spokesperson for the organization or may designate a board or committee member to do so.
- Fills vacancies on the Board of Directors as required, subject to approval of the Board of Directors.
- Convenes Ad Hoc Committees as necessary.
- May approve expenditures up to $250.00, after consultation with the Treasurer.
- The term of office for the President shall be limited to one two‐year term.
- The President may not serve consecutive terms.
- This position may be shared by two people if so desired.
- Section 2. Vice President
- The Vice‐President shall support the work of the PTO including areas such as cultural diversity and inclusion, planning, finance, fundraising and community outreach.
- The Vice President shall act as chairperson in absence of the President and assist the President with all in‐school activities.
- The term of office for vice‐president shall be one year. The Vice‐President may serve up to two consecutive terms.
- This position may be shared by two people if so desired.
- Section 3. Corresponding Secretary
- Oversees communications for the organization.
- Notifies all members of the Board of Directors of all regular and special meetings.
- Maintains a file of correspondence pertaining to business of the organization.
- The term of office shall be one year.
- The Corresponding Secretary may serve consecutive terms.
- Section 4. Recording Secretary
- Keeps the minutes of all Board, general membership and special meetings and records attendance.
- Acts as custodian of the organization’s records.
- Complies an annual report of the activities of the organization.
- The term of office shall be one year.
- The Recording Secretary may serve consecutive terms.
- This position may be shared by two people if so desired.
- Section 5. Treasurer
- Accepts donations and maintains all funds in approved bank accounts.
- Keeps full and accurate account at monthly meetings.
- Presents statement of account at monthly meetings.
- Submits the annual PTO budget for ratification at the first general membership meetings.
- Reimburses cash expenditures approved by the Board of Directors, or upon presentation of a receipt.
- The term of office shall be two years.
- The Treasurer may serve consecutive terms.
- Section 6. Outreach Coordinator
- Leads efforts to recruit new families through mailings, postings at area preschools, open houses, tours, etc.
- Seeks opportunities to enhance the reputation of Ed Smith School by publicizing our initiatives via various media.
- Acts as parent ambassador to the broader community; directs participation in neighborhood and civic events.
- Serves as liaison with Communications Department of Syracuse City School District, sharing content as needed, to ensure Ed Smith information/success stories/events are adequately communicated to greater community.
- The Outreach Coordinator may serve consecutive terms.
- Section 7. Faculty Representative
- Encourages cooperation, goodwill, and sense of community between parents and staff.
- Serves as liaison between PTO and faculty.
- The term of office shall be one year.
- Faculty Representative may serve consecutive terms.
- Section 8. Principal and/or Vice Principal
- Shall be ex‐officio members of the Board of Directors.
- Section 9. Immediate Past President
- Shall be an ex‐officio member of the Board of Directors.
Standing Committees
- Section 1. Any member of the PTO may suggest an ad-hoc or standing committee. Any committee will select its chair at a general membership meeting, subject to the approval of the Board of Directors.
- Section 2. Any Committee shall present an updated summary of its activities at general membership meetings.
- Section 3. Any Committee shall be responsible for submitting to the Treasurer a budget. Committee chairs will work within treasurer’s guidelines.
- Section 4. All committees are open to any member of the PTO.
- Section 5. Standing committees that exist at the time of each update of the Ed Smith PTO by‐laws will be listed in an addendum to the by‐laws.
Nomination and Election of Board Members:
- Section 1. Nominations will be open to the membership and the membership will be so notified in writing: a request for nominations for officers will be sent home with each child on or before May 1 and will also be posted on the Ed Smith listserv and publicized by other means.
- Section 2. Nominations, in the form of a ballot, shall also be transmitted to the membership in writing at least one week prior to the election.
- Section 3. The election of the officers of the Board of Directors shall take place at the June general membership meeting. The general membership (all parents/guardians of students who attend Ed Smith Elementary School) may place names in nomination in addition to the slate at the time.
- Section 4. For positions for which more than one name has been nominated, the general membership shall elect a single person to be included in the slate. Subsequently, the slate shall be approved by the majority of those present.
- Section 5. A transition meeting between the former Board of Directors and the newly elected members shall be held in June.
- Section 6. The Board shall identify and select a Faculty Representative. Nominations will be open to all staff members and they shall be notified in writing. A memo soliciting volunteers for this position shall be sent to all staff members. The memo shall state the duties of the Faculty Representative as noted in the Duties of the Board of Directors, Section 7.
Amendments:
- Section 1. These by‐laws may be amended at a general membership meeting, as appropriate, by a vote of two‐thirds of the members present. A written notice of proposed amendment(s) must be sent to all general members no less than 14 days prior to the vote.
- Section 2. PTO members may submit, in writing, changes or corrections to or comments about proposed amendments to the PTO via e-mail to the Board or to the mailbox in the Ed Smith School office a minimum of seven days prior to the vote.