Wilkinson
School Community Council Constitution.
Article 1.
Name
The name of the association shall be the Wilkinson School
Community
Council ("the Council").
Article 2.
Purpose
The purpose of the Wilkinson School Community Council is:
1. To enrich our children's education by encouraging
parental and
community participation and input into school activities,
policy
development and programs.
2. To maintain and foster the partnership between staff and
parents.
To keep parents and community members informed about
changes in
education policies and programs and their effect on
Wilkinson.
4. To actively encourage respect and understanding for the
rights of
everyone in our school community.
5. To raise and distribute funds for Wilkinson School.
6. To provide advice to the school principal and where
appropriate,
to the school board on any of the matters listed in Ontario
Regulation
612 (See Appendix 3)
Article 3.
Membership
Membership is open to all parents/guardians, staff, and
appointed
community members. All members of Council may vote at
Council meetings.
Members include:
1. Parents
The majority of the members of the Wilkinson School
Community Council
shall be parents/guardians of children registered at
Wilkinson.
2. Other Members
The principal and vice-principal are designated members of
the Council.
The teaching staff will choose a representative as a member
of the
Council. The non-teaching staff will choose a
representative to sit on
the Council. The Council will appoint a community
representative to the
Council. The Dandylion Daycare Board will appoint a
representative.
Article 4:
Executive
The executive positions on the Council are:
1. Chair 2. Vice-Chair 3. Secretary 4. Treasurer
The Executive Committee retains the authority to act on
behalf of the
Council until a new Executive is elected each fall.
Article 5:
Meetings
Meetings are held once a month during the school year,
except December.
The first meeting of the year will occur within the first
35 days of the
school year, on a date set by the principal of the school.
The
executive may call a special meeting at its discretion.
Meetings are open to all members of the Wilkinson community
and the
public.
The executive council will convene two general meetings.
Article 6:
Committees
Committees are formed at the discretion of the school
council. The
committees will report on their activities at each meeting.
The chair
and the principal may attend all committee meetings as ex
officio
members.
Article 7:
Elections
The parent members volunteer to serve on the Council and
are approved by
all parents on Curriculum Night (usually held in early
October) in an
election by secret ballot. The vote should be held within
the first 30
days of the school year to comply with Ministry
regulations.
The Executive will be chosen by the Council at the first
meeting
following Curriculum Night. If several people wish to run
for an
executive position, the Council members will elect the
executive in a
manner decided by those in attendance at the first meeting.
The Executive may seek to appoint members to council if
there are
resignations. The Council will elect to replace an
Executive member
from among the membership of the Council.
Article 8:
Quorum
At a meeting, the presence of half the voting members, one
of which is
the chair or its designate shall constitute a quorum. In
case of no
quorum, there may be deliberations among members but no
decisions may be
made. Motions can be raised at the subsequent meeting and
voted upon.
In the event of a time sensitive issue, a meeting can be
called within
two weeks at which any number of participants shall
constitute a quorum.
Article 9: Conflict of
Interest
In financial or fundraising matters, a member of Council,
or a member of
Council who has a family member with a direct financial
interest in the
outcome of a decision, such as the winning of a contract,
shall declare
that interest as a conflict and refrain from speaking to or
voting on
the matter.
Article 10: Conflict
Resolution
Internal School Council disputes will be mediated through
processes
established by the Toronto District School Board.
Article 11:
Finance
A budget will be struck for Council funds. The budget, once
it is
approved by the Council, constitutes the authority to
disperse funds.
An annual financial report will be issued in June.
Article 12:
Remuneration and Reimbursement
No member or officer of the School Council will be paid for
serving on
the Council.
Members, officers, volunteers, and staff will be reimbursed
for expenses
incurred in council approved projects. Reimbursement occurs
only on
pre-approved expenditures. Expenses under $150 may be
approved by two
members of the Executive. Expenses over $150 must be
approved by the
Council, or by a committee of Council undertaking a
particular function
on behalf of Council.
Article 13: Amending
the Constitution
Articles of this constitution may be amended provided that
copies of the
proposed amendments have been circulated to the membership
at least 15
days before the meeting when voting takes place. In this
instance,
decisions must be made by a majority vote of 2/3 of those
present.
Article 14:
Indemnification of Officers and Members of
Council
The officers and members of Council are deemed to be acting
in good
faith and to the best of their ability in pursuing the
purposes of the
School Council. They are indemnified to the fullest extent
under the
law, the directives of the Ministry of Education, and the
directives of
the Toronto District School Board.
Article 15: Omissions
in the By-Laws
Where omissions are determined in these by-laws, the School
Council will
follow regulations and guidelines provided by the Ministry
of Education
and the Toronto District School Board. Appendix 1
Policies of the
Wilkinson School Community Council as of October,
2001.
Signing
Authority
The treasurer and the school principal or vice principal,
or their
designate, are authorized to sign cheques.
Policy on
Communications
The Council will authorise members from time to time to
produce
communications on its behalf. These communications may
include letters,
posters, newsletters or other forms. The Council will
provide
parameters for the nature and content of the communication
and then
delegate a member or members to execute the communication.
No
communication on behalf of the Council may be released
without the
approval of the Council Chair, and review by the principal.
Notice of Meetings/
Minutes.
Meeting dates for the school year will be established at
the first
meeting of the Council in the fall. A list of meeting dates
will be
available in the school office and will be posted in a
public area of
the school.
Agendas, including minutes of the previous meeting and a
financial
report, will be available and distributed the Wednesday of
the week
prior to the meeting.
The Secretary will submit the minutes of a council meeting
to the Chair
for review no later than the Friday of the week following
the meeting.
The Council will hold a planning meeting for the following
school year
in the spring.
Funding Approval
Process
Requests for funding from the Council must be received in
writing in
time to be included in the agenda for the appropriate
meeting. The
requests must include a brief description of the item to be
funded, a
rationale for the expenditure, an exact cost, and a
timeline for
expenditure. Requests not tabled in this manner will be
held over until
the next meeting. Expenditures of under $150 may be
approved by the
Chair between meetings, but written notice of the
expenditure, including
the above criteria, must be included in the package for the
following
meeting. Appendix 1 (cont'd)
Delegation of
Authority
The school community in electing the school council in the
fall
delegates authority to the Council to raise and spend funds
on its
behalf, develop and execute policy on its behalf, and to
represent the
school community on its behalf to outside parties,
including government
and the school board.
The Council will appoint an Executive that will have the
authority to
manage the affairs of the Council, to execute policy and to
represent
the Council to other parties.
The Council will convene various committees as it sees fit.
These
committees will be given the authority to conduct their
business after
providing to the Council a written plan of action for the
year. The
committees must act within their mandate (as described in
the Committee
Descriptions), and their plan. Changes to the mandate or
the plan must
be presented to and approved by the Council. The treasurer
must be kept
informed of all financial matters relating to the
committees' work.
The Council reserves the right to resume authority of
either the
Executive's or any other committee's work.
Program Cost
Recovery
Wilkinson Public School and the Wilkinson School Community
Council will
not rule out charging students directly for programs that
are brought
into the school, but every effort will be made to cover the
costs of
such programs by other means, such as fundraising or
seeking grants.
Appendix 2
ROLES AND
RESPONSIBILITIES
All Council Members:
• participate in council meetings,
• participate in information and training programs
where offered,
• act as a link between the school council and the
school community, and
• encourage others within the school community to
participate in the activities of the council.
The Chair and Vice Chair:
• chair council meetings,
• prepare agendas in consultation with the principal
and other members,
• ensure that minutes of council meetings are recorded
and maintained,
• communicate with the principal on matters relating
to the business of the council,
• ensure regular two-way communication between the
council and the rest of the school community,
• ensure democratic procedures for decision-making and
for the overall conduct of the business of the council, and
• consult with senior board staff and trustees, as
required.
The Treasurer:
• prepares an annual budget in consultation with the
co-chairs and the principal in the fall,
• prepares Treasurer's report for each meeting,
• maintains the council's finances (banking, writing
cheques, etc.), and
• prepares a final financial statement for the
beginning of June.
The Secretary:
• takes the minutes of each meeting,
• prepares the minutes for distribution to council
members and the school community, and
• assists in setting the agenda for meetings.
COMMITTEE RULES &
RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Committees shall define their roles in writing in such a
way that
it is understandable by the Council and the parent
community as a whole,
and so that it does not conflict with other committees or
the Council
itself.
2. Committees will establish schedules for their meetings.
Should
Council perceive a committee as being inactive, the Council
may step in
to encourage more activity.
3. The committees shall nominate a coordinator who will be
responsible for the following:
a) calling committee meetings,
b) preparation of a one paragraph summary of the
committee's activities
for the month, for the purpose of reporting to the monthly
meetings of
the Community Council,
c) the committee coordinator may not be a member of the
Council's
Executive, and
committee membership is open to all members of the
Wilkinson community,
and as such is not restricted to members of the Wilkinson
Community
Council. New members are always welcome.
Committee Definitions
Communications Committee
The role of the Communications Committee is the
coordination of
communication between the school, the home and the
community via the
newsletter and web site. The Committee will ensure that the
Wilkinson
community is kept up-to-date on all of the Council's
activities.
Health and Safety
Committee
The role of the Health and Safety Committee is to support
the Wilkinson
school community with input and/or direction and/or action
in the
following areas:
a) Physical Safety: the physical safety of children, staff
and others at
the school (including the safety of the building and
grounds and the
safety of travel to and from school).
b) Personal Safety: the personal safety of children, staff
and others at
the school (including issues of bullying, offensive
language, aggressive
behaviour and security concerns).
c) Public Health Initiatives: the fulfillment of public
health
initiatives at the school (including issues of illness,
healthy
lifestyles, and injury prevention).
d) Physical Education and Sports: the fulfillment of the
physical
education curriculum, and of the extra-curricular sports
program at the
school (including policies on participation, developing
methods of
support for teachers in delivering Phys. Ed. programs)
Green
Committee
The role of the Green Committee is to support the Wilkinson
School
Community in education about the environment and
environmental issues,
and the greening of the school and community. ur focus is
on the three
R's - reduce, reuse, and recycle.
Fun Fair
Committee
The role of the Fun Fair Committee is to organize and run
the Fun Fair
in May. This includes recruiting volunteers and donations
for prizes
and the silent auction, deciding on the type of events and
activities
offered, advertising and publicity for the event, and
organizing the set
up and clean up on the day of the Fun Fair.
Fundraising
Committee
The role of the fundraising committee is to assess
potential fundraising
ideas for the school and to organize and coordinate
fundraising events.
All funds raised will be for the Wilkinson School Community
Council and
will be dispersed by the Council.
Education
Committee:
The role of the education committee is to inform members of
the school
community about education policies and issues at the
school, board and
provincial level. The committee will organize parent
information
nights, make submissions on behalf of the council to boards
and hearings
(as required), and provide education information to the
community
through articles in the newsletter.