Bylaws of

AGATE of Port Washington
Home and School Association

 

ARTICLE I - NAME

Section 1. The name of the organization shall be AGATE of Port Washington Home and School Association. (hereinafter “AGATE” or “ the Association”).

 

Section 2. AGATE is a Long Island chapter of AGATE in NYS, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

 

Section 3. “AGATE” stands for Advocacy for Gifted and Talented Education.

ARTICLE II – ARTICLES OF ORGANIZATION

 

AGATE exists as an association of its members. Its ‘articles of organization’ comprise these Bylaws, as from time to time amended, and its articles of association, if any. In the absence of separate articles of association, these Bylaws shall be deemed to be the articles of association. In the event of any conflict between these Bylaws and the articles of association, these Bylaws shall govern.

 

ARTICLE III - GOALS

Section 1. To promote parental and community awareness of the special needs of gifted and talented children, in order to help these children reach their maximum potential.

 

Section 2. To advocate for an appropriate education for all children, with an emphasis on the needs of the high-ability learner.

Section 3. To work with teachers and school administrators to promote and improve school programs for the stimulation of gifted and talented children.

Section 4. To provide for fellowship among concerned adults, enabling them to discuss the problems, challenges, and responsibilities of raising gifted and talented children.

Section 5. To support activities outside the schools for gifted and talented children to advance their special interests.

ARTICLE IV - MEMBERSHIP

Section 1. Membership in this organization is open to any person who completes an application form and pays the membership fee.  Dues are set annually by the Executive Board (“the Board”) of AGATE, in consultation with the Advisory Committee (“the Advisors”). The annual membership year runs from July 1 to June 30.

ARTICLE V - OFFICERS AND THEIR ELECTION
 
Section 1:  The officers of AGATE comprise the Executive Board. They shall be two co-Presidents, a Vice-President, a Corresponding Secretary, a Recording Secretary, a Treasurer and a Liaison Coordinator.

 

Section 2:  The duties of the co-Presidents shall be as follows: The co-Presidents shall:
            [a] preside at all meetings;

[b] appointchairpersons of all committees, standing and special, (with the exception of theNominating Committee). Chairperson appointments shall be subject to approval by a majority of the Board;            [c] be a member ex-officio of all committees except theNominating Committee.           

[d] The co-Presidents may designate another officer to perform any of the President’s tasks.

 

Section 3: The duties of the Vice President shall be as follows:

            [a] to perform the duties of the co-Presidents in their absence;

            [b] to review the bank statements and quarterly Treasurer’s report.

 

Section 4: The duties of the Corresponding Secretary shall be as follows:

[a] to conduct all correspondence to its members, school officials, and community members as regards AGATE business;

[b] to keep a permanent record of such correspondence and any response received.

[c] In the event that the Corresponding Secretary position is vacant, the co-Presidents shall appoint an officer or advisor to perform this task.

 

Section 5: The duties of the Recording Secretary shall be as follows:

 [a] to keep accurate minutes of all meetings of this organizationin a permanent form;

[b] to submit all minutes to the Board within one week of the meeting.

[c] In the event that the Recording Secretary position is vacant, the co-Presidents shall appoint an officer or advisor to perform this task.

 

Section 6: The duties of the Treasurer shall be as follows:

[a] to prepare a budget for all appropriate committees of the organization;

[b] to present the annual budget at the first general meeting of the school year, for ratification;

[c] to seek approval from majority of the Board for extra-budgetary expenditures, after discussion with the Board and advisors;

[d] to receive and disburse all monies of this organization andkeep an accuraterecord of all receipts and expenditures;

[e] toprepare quarterly financial reports and submit them to the Vice President;

[f] to present these quarterly financial reports, offering written documentation, at the first membership meeting immediately following each report.

[g] The Treasurer shall serve as chairperson of the Membership Committee.

 

Section 7: The duties of the Liaison Coordinator shall be as follows:

[a] to select two liaisons to each PortWashington School District parent group, including HSAs, PTAs, Parent Council and others in the district;

[b] to inform the liaisons of their responsibilities;

[c] to distribute information for the liaisons to share with their respective  organization;

[d] to support the liaisons in their activities, as needed

Section 8:  Election of Officers:
            [a] Nomination procedures are described in Article VI, Section 4.
            [b] Election shall take place at the May meeting. Each officer shall be elected  individually. In the case of a tie,there shall be a succession of votes until the  matter is resolved. A simple majority of those members present is required for election.
            [c] Newly elected officers shall assume their duties on July 1 following their election.
            [d] Each officer shall serve a two-year term, if elected at the May meeting, or shall serve until the next election, if appointed to complete an unfinished term.

[e] Vacancy: Vacancies of an officer’s position shall be filled via appointment by a majority of the Board for the unexpired portion of said officer’s term.

 

Section 9: General Responsibilities of Officers:

            [a] All officers are expected to attend board meetings and general meetings, and meetings with such District Administrators as shall be deemed appropriate.

            [b] All officers are expected to attend Board of Education meetings during the year, and to attend subcommittee meetings of the Board of Education as they address the concerns of the Association.

 

ARTICLE VI - COMMITTEES

Section 1:  The standing committees of this organization shall be those listed below:
            [a] Advisory

[b] Membership
            [c] Nominating

[d] Scholarship

 

Section 2: Advisory Committee

[a] The Advisory Committee shall consist of the past presidents, liaisons, committee chairs, and advisory committee members-at-large.

[b] The role of the advisors is to provide input on decisions to be made by the Board.

[c] Service of past presidents on the advisory committee is at the discretion of the past presidents themselves.

[d] The current co-presidents may remove from the advisory committee any member who is not performing the duties described.

[e] The co-presidents may appoint advisory committee members-at-large on an annual basis.

Section 3:  Membership Committee

[a] The Treasurer shall chair the Membership committee.

[b] The goal of this committee is topromote membership in the association, keep an accurate list of members in good standing, and update data as needed.

[c] The list of members shall not be given to any other organization, nor used for any purpose other than distribution of AGATE-relatedinformation.

 

Section 4:  Nominating Committee
            [a] The Nominating Committee shall consist of three persons solicited from the  general membership and the Advisory Committee. No current officers may serve on this committee. Past presidents are encouraged to serve.

[b] The Nominating Committee shall be convened two months prior to the May meeting.          

[c] The Nominating Committee shall accept nominations from the membership  and/or those proposed by the committee, and prepare a slate of one nominee for  each office. Permission must be obtained from all nominees to submit their names as candidates for office. This slate is to be presented to the membership  one month before the May election meeting.

 [d] A list of the members of the nominating committee shall be read along with the slate at the election meeting.   

[d] Additional nominations for each office will be accepted from the floor at the election meeting.

           

Section 5: Scholarship Committee

[a] The Scholarship Committee shall serve to propose and obtain Board approval for the number and dollar amount of scholarship awards annually.

[b] The Scholarship committee shall review and select candidates for scholarships based on criteria set by the committee, reviewed by the advisors and approved by the Board.

            [c] The Scholarship committee shall consist of at least three AGATE members, at least one of whom must be a member of the AGATE Board. Members who have achild in the current senior high school class may not serve on this committee.

[d] A list of the members of the Scholarship Committee shall be made available upon request.

[e] Committee members are expected to be objective, to act in good faith, and to recuse themselves if they cannot meet these criteria.

 

Section 6: The Board may establish other standing committees as the needarises.

Section 7: Special Committees

 

            [a] Special committees may be created, changed, or eliminated by a vote of the Board. Special committees may include, but are not limited to, the following:  elementary school issues, middle school issues, high school issues, research on gifted/talented education, education legislation, marketing, programming, publicity, web site, extracurricular program directory, current events, grants, anniversary/special occasion, district comparisons, and liaison.

ARTICLE VII - MEETINGS

Section 1:  General meetings of this organization shall be held at least six times during the school year. Public speakers and candidates’ nights shall be considered general eetings.

Section 2:  Meetings of the Board shall be in conjunction with and/or prior to each of the regularly scheduled general meetings, at a time and place agreed upon by the members of the Board.

Section 3: Special meetings may be called by the Board whenever advisable and necessary.

 

Section 4: Members of the Advisory committee may be invited to attend Board meetings as deemed beneficial by the Board.

 

ARTICLE VIII – OFFICER SUCCESSION

 

Section 1: All Board members shall deliver to his or her successor all Association and Executive Board documents within his or her possession, two weeks prior to the  start of the new officer’s term on July 1.

Section 2:  The treasurer shall turn over all the monies of the Association, together with all financial reports and documentation, to the newly elected treasurer, two weeks prior to the start of the new treasurer’s term on July 1.

     
ARTICLE IX - AMENDMENT

Section 1: The by-laws may be amended by two-thirds vote of membership present at the General meeting in which the amendment is considered, provided one week’s electronicnotification of intent to amend had been given to all members prior to themeeting.

 
We, the undersigned, are the officers of the Executive Board of AGATE, and consent to and hereby adopt the foregoing bylaws, as the Bylaws of this Association.

 

Dated: 19 day of November, 2007

 

 

Corbey Hyman, co-President

 

 

Susan Page Sturman, co-President

 

________________________________________________________________________

TBD, Vice President

 

 

Shaleen Shivdasani, Corresponding Secretary

 

_______________________________________________________________________

TBD, Recording Secretary

 

 

Bea Helft, Treasurer

 

 

Leslie Naschek, Liaison Coordinator