Chippewa Secondary School Council Constitution Article I – Name 1.1 The name of this organization shall be the Chippewa Secondary School – School Council. Article II – Mission Statement 2.1The CSS-SC is committed to promoting a healthy and safe school environment, to supporting academic, cultural, and athletic excellence and skills which will contribute to the well-being of the students, to serving the needs of the school community in the best interests of the students, and to acting as a liaison to the school, the Board, and the community. Article III – Purposes of the CSS-SC 3.lThe purposes of the CSS-SC are: • To increase parental involvement in their children’s education, both at home and in school, enhance student learning, improve pupil achievement, and promote the accountability of the education system to parents; • To enhance communication between school and home, and between school and the broader community; • To provide a meaningful advisory role for parents and the community in the education of children; • To provide parents, staff, students, and community members with a forum to learn about and discuss educational issues and programs and community needs; • To promote the school to the community and the community to the school; • To support the development of strategies which will involve a collaborative effort by staff, students, parents, and administration to promote and maintain a healthy and safe school environment; • To provide informed advice and recommendations on any matter to the school principal or to the Board within legislated guidelines (such as the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy legislation and the Education Act); and • To provide a meaningful forum for parents and members of the broader community to have input into the existing or proposed policies, procedures, and practices of the Ministry of Education. Article IV – Membership/elections 4.1Membership in the CSS-SC shall include the following elected and/or appointed representatives to a maximum of twenty-two. 4.2A maximum of ten parents and/or guardians of students enrolled at Chippewa Secondary School (CSS) who shall be elected to Council. 4.2.1If the number of declared candidates received is fewer than the number of elected positions to be filled, then those candidates shall be acclaimed. 4.2.2if all elected positions have not been filled at the end of the election process, the newly constituted CSS-SC shall appoint, by the October council meeting, the necessary number of eligible persons to fill the vacancies. If appointments fail to fill all positions, the CSS-SC shall proceed to operate as long as a parent majority exists. *4.2.3A person is not qualified to be a parent member if he or she is employed at the school. *4.2.4A parent employed by the Near North District School Board shall make this known to the Council. *taken from the Near North District School Board’s Administrative Guideline, January 10, 2002. 4.3One teacher from CSS to be elected by members of the teaching staff. 4.4One non-teaching member of the staff to be elected by the non-teaching staff. 4.5One student to be appointed by Student Council. 4.6The CSS school principal shall be a designated member. 4.7A maximum of two community representatives to be appointed by the elected Council members. The community representatives shall be residents of the community of North Bay, or represent a local business, industry, or social service agency. 4.8Parents and/or guardians shall form the majority of the Council (i.e. 50% +1) Article V – Terms of Office 5.1The term of office for elected and appointed positions shall be one year, commencing immediately following the election at the September meeting. 5.2Elected and appointed members may seek additional terms of office. 5.3If at any time during the given term of office due to member resignation(s) or other unforeseen circumstances, the parent and/or guardian majority falls below 50% + 1, the Council shall recruit additional members to restore the majority. Article VI – Structure of Council and Executive 6.1Nominations for membership on Council will be accepted at the first meeting in September. Elections will be held at this meeting. Candidates are elected by a plurality of votes cast to fill the number of available positions. 6.2The following officers of the CSS-WC shall be elected from within its membership at the first Council meeting: chairperson, vice-chair (or two co-chairs), secretary (or two co-secretaries). 6.3The Chair (co-chairs) shall be a parent/guardian not employed by the Near North District School Board and with a minimum of one year on the Council (if possible). 6.4The Vice-chair shall be a parent/guardian. 6.5Nominations for all positions will be accepted at the first meeting in September. 6.6If one of the executive positions becomes vacant during the school year, nominations and elections to fill the vacancy will be held at the next Council meeting. Article VII – Roles and Responsibilities of School Council Members 7.1Council members shall: 7.1.1attend Council meetings regularly. A council member who fails to attend two consecutive meetings, without notification to the Chair or Principal, shall be deemed to have resigned. 7.1.2participate actively in the work of the Council. 7.1.3support the work of the council in the community and bring forward to Council the views of others along with their own. 7.2The Chair/Co-chair shall: 7.2.1call School Council meetings, 7.2.2prepare and circulate the agenda for School Council meetings in consultation with the principal and with the principal’s assistance at least one week prior to any Council meeting. 7.2.3chair School Council meetings 7.2.4ensure that the minutes of School Council meetings are recorded and maintained 7.2.5participate in information and training programs 7.2.6communicate with the school principal 7.2.7ensure that there is regular communication with the school community 7.2.8consult with senior Board staff and trustees, as required, and 7.2.9ensure that an annual, written report of the School Council’s activities is prepared and submitted to the principal and to the Director of Education. If the School Council engaged in fundraising activities, the annual report shall include a report on those activities. 7.3The Vice-Chair shall: 7.2.10assume the duties of the Chair in the event of the Chair’s absence 7.2.11assist the Chair as required 7.4The Secretary/Co-Secretary shall 7.4.1ensure that the minutes are distributed to all Council members at least one week prior to the following Council meeting 7.5The Principal shall: 7.5.1make the names of members of the School Council known to the parents of the pupils enrolled in the school, not later than 30 days following the election of parent members of the School Council 7.5.2attend every meeting of the School Council, unless he or she is unable to do so by reason of illness or other cause beyond his/her control 7.5.3delegate any of his or her powers or duties as a member of the School Council to a vice-principal of the school as he/she deems appropriate 7.5.4act as a resource person to the School Council and assist the Council in obtaining information relevant to the functions of the School Council, including information relating to relevant legislation, regulations, and policies 7.5.5obtain and provide information required by the Council to enable it to make informed decisions, and 7.5.6consider each recommendation made to the Principal by the School Council Article VIII – Meetings 8.1CSS-SC meetings will usually be held on a monthly basis throughout the school year. The school council shall meet at least four times during the school year. 8.2Meetings shall be open to all members of the community who wish to attend. 8.3A quorum to conduct a Council meeting shall be forty percent of the members and parent members being the majority. 8.4Every effort shall be made to reach decisions through consensus. In the event that consensus cannot be reached, the decision may be reached by taking a vote. All members of the School Council and * including the Chair, may vote. In the event of a tie vote the motion is lost. 8.5Where a member deems himself/herself to be in a position of conflicting interests with respect to any issue before Council, he/she shall be required to excuse himself/herself from any discussion or voting on that issue. The declaration of the conflict of interest shall be declared at the beginning of the meeting and noted in the meeting minutes. 8.6Any individual or group that wishes to make a presentation to the Council must contact the Chair at least one week in advance of the meeting at which they wish to present. This petition must be in writing and must indicate the purpose. The inclusion of the presentation will be at the discretion of the Chair and principal. The chair may also limit the number of people involved in any presentation, the number of presentations at any meeting, and the duration of any presentation. 8.7While voting is the responsibility of the elected and appointed members, all members of the school community at large may voice their own ideas and opinions on any issues on the Council agenda. 8.8At meetings, speakers shall ask for permission to speak through the Chair. The number of times a speaker speaks on an issue and the duration of speaking shall be at the discretion of the Chair. 8.9Non-Council member(s) who exhibits disruptive behaviour will be called to order by the Chair. If the non-Council member(s) continues the disruptive behaviour the Chair may direct the individual(s) to leave the meeting, citing the reasons for the request. Article IX – Conflict Resolution 9.1Council members are elected to serve the school community and will demonstrate respect for their colleagues on Council at all times. 9.2If a Council member or members become disruptive during a meeting, the Chair shall ask for order. 9.3If all efforts to restore order fail or the unbecoming behaviour continues, the Chair may direct the individual council member(s) to leave the meeting, citing the reasons for the request. 9.4The removal of a member for one meeting does not prevent the Council member from participating in future meetings of Council. 9.5The incident shall be recorded and submitted to the Superintendent of Schools within one week of the meeting. 9.6When the chair has requested the removal of a member of members from a meeting, the Chair shall request that the disputing members of Council participate in a special meeting. The purpose of which be to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution to the dispute. Such a meeting may be a private meeting, and shall not be construed as a meeting of the Council. 9.7The Chair may request the intervention of an independent third party to assist in achieving a resolution to the dispute. 9.8An independent third party may be a Board official or another individual mutually agreed on by the parties involved in the dispute. Chippewa Secondary School – School Council ConstitutionPage 1 of 5
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 01:33:01 +0000