PART I - ADMINISTRATIVE

 A. OFFICERS

The officers shall be:

President

First Vice President

Vice President for Leadership

Vice President for Chairmen

Vice President for Membership

Secretary        

Treasurer

Two Area Vice Presidents for each educational area

Duties of the officers, in addition to those enumerated in the bylaws, are as follows: 

1. The president shall:

a.       Appoint with the approval of a majority vote of the executive committee

(1)   administrative service personnel

(2)   chairmen of standing committees

(3)   individuals to act as liaison members of county wide committees, commissions, advisory councils, task force groups, and interagency committees;

b.      Appoint chairmen of special committees;

c.       Enhance Maryland PTA and National PTA programs in Baltimore County;

d.      Be ex-officio a member of all committees except the nominating committee and the audit committee;

e.       Be the PTA council representative at the board of education meetings and community meetings or send a representative;

f.       Gather and coordinate materials pertinent to PTA Council from the NPTA, MCPT, and all the council officers; and

g.      Compile the materials for distribution to board of directors members. 

2. The first vice president shall:

a.       Plan (in consultation with the president), arrange, schedule, publicize, and conduct all council general meeting programs;

b.      Serve as chairman of the fall workshop;

c.       Coordinate reports from Maryland PTA and National PTA Conventions, and publish articles in the PTA Council BULLETIN with highlights;

d.      Be ex-officio a member of all committees except the nominating committee and audit committee;

e.       Arrange locations for board of directors meetings; and

f.       Provide recognition for the out going president.

3. The vice president for leadership shall:

a.       Provide all AVPs with procedure books and other essential materials and information;

b.      Communicate with AVPs to assure they are carrying out their duties and to assist them in identifying and resolving problems in their area;

c.       Advise the president of problems and progress in all areas of the county;

d.      Ensure that outgoing AVPs turn over to their successors procedure books and all material pertinent to the office;

e.       Submit budget input to the budget committee for his area of responsibility;

f.       Coordinate leadership activities with the state PTA when appropriate;

g.      Develop leadership materials and place pertinent material in the PTA Council BULLETIN;

h.      Plan and coordinate the June Leadership Meeting as well as ongoing leadership workshops and leadership training; and

i.        Promote leadership training and participation in state and national conferences, conventions, and special sessions.

4. The vice president for chairmen shall:

a.       Assure that all chairmen have procedure books and other materials required to do their job;

b.      Assist chairmen in preparing plans of work and annual reports;

c.       Contact chairmen periodically to ensure progress in completion of the plans of work;

d.      Obtain reports from chairmen as necessary to keep the board of directors informed;

e.       Recommend to the president replacement of chairmen not fulfilling their responsibilities;

f.       Provide recommendations to the president for potential chairmen;

g.      Obtain from outgoing chairmen all procedure books and materials;

h.      Submit budget input to the budget committee for his areas of responsibility;

i.        Provide resource table at all council general meetings, workshops, leadership training and special sessions with volunteer request form; and

j.        Assist first vice president and vice president for leadership in content portion of fall workshop and committee portion of leadership training.

5. The vice president for membership shall:

a.   Ensure that membership information gets to local membership chairmen;

b.      Share membership ideas with local membership chairmen;

c.       Assist local PTAs to build an informed, active membership, familiar with the mission, purposes, and policies and programs of the National PTA and the Maryland PTA;

d.      Field calls from local PTAs concerning membership, membership themes, obtaining membership cards, etc.;

e.       Inform local PTAs of national, state, and council PTA membership incentives and awards;

f.       Attend the Maryland PTA Annual Convention and collect membership awards from state to deliver to the local PTAs at the next general council meeting;

g.      Present other membership awards at the appropriate general council meeting;

h.      Turn over to the treasurer money collected for dues and prepare a report of same to be

      included in the audit;

i.        Send directories to local presidents after receipt of council dues;

j.        Order voting delegate cards for all the council general meetings;

k.      Mail voting delegate cards prior to each general council meeting to all local PTAs which have paid their council dues;

l.        Issue voting cards to board of directors members;

m.    Be responsible for registration at all council general meetings, recording attendance, and verifying that a quorum is present; and

n.      Prepare and submit articles for the PTA Council BULLETIN, as needed, pertaining to insurance coverage, delinquent payments, and state and national dues.

6. The secretary shall:

a.       Process all correspondence as delegated;

b.      Accomplish roll call as necessary;

c.       Send a copy of the minutes of board of directors meetings to each board of directors member, method of transmission to be determined by the board of directors;

d.      Maintain a list of all elected officers, date of their election, date their term started, number of terms served, and whether elected by the general council membership or the board of directors;

e.       Monitor attendance for compliance with bylaws and forward to the appropriate vice president for action; 

f.       Submit the council evaluation to Maryland Congress of Parents and Teachers, Inc.; and

g.      Maintain a current history of the council and preserve the archives.

7. The treasurer shall:

Send to the recording secretary a list of board members receiving funding for state

summer conference, state convention, and/or national convention within three days

after issuing a check.

      8.   The area vice presidents shall – See pages 9 and 10 (A and B) 

B.     BOARD OF DIRECTORS DUTIES

1. Board of directors members are expected to attend all regular and special meetings of the board of directors, assigned committee meetings, and the general council meetings.  Failure to attend two (2) consecutive board meetings without being excused is grounds for removal from the board.  If unable to attend:

a.       Officers, except AVPs, shall notify the president;

b.      Administrative service personnel shall notify the first vice president;

c.       Area vice presidents shall notify the vice president for leadership; and

d.      Chairmen shall notify the vice president for chairmen.

The excusing officer (president or appropriate vice president), when notified by the secretary of the failure to attend meetings, shall take appropriate action as deemed necessary.

2. Board of directors members who fail to attend meetings, for which a financial obligation has been made, without cancellation of reservations, will be billed for the cost.

3. Board of directors members funded by the council, attending workshops, conventions, or conferences, shall file a written report  within fifteen (15) days following the conclusion of the event. Copies of the report shall be sent to all members of the board of directors, the original sent to the secretary.   Failure to submit a written report  will prohibit board members from being funded by council for future workshops, conventions, and meetings.

4. Board of directors members are expected to assist in carrying out the program at general council meetings, leadership training, workshops, and other meetings necessary to advance the PTA Council.

5. Board of directors members shall submit a list of any known organizations within their communities improperly using the registered service mark "PTA".  The president shall notify the Maryland PTA president of the organizations, requesting that appropriate action be taken.

6. The calendar of activities for the next fiscal year shall be adopted at the last board of directors meeting of the school year (usually June).

7. Board of Directors shall meet in August to formulate goals for the year.

8. Board of directors members procedure books shall be kept current with input from the secretary.  At the end of the term of office, the procedure book shall be turned over to the person designated below:

a.       Retiring officers, except AVPs, forwards to the incoming officer;

b.      Area vice presidents forward to the vice president for leadership;

c.       Committee chairmen forward to the vice president for chairmen; and

d.      Administrative service personnel forward to the first vice president. 

C.     MEETINGS

1. The schedule for all general council meetings and board of directors meetings for the coming school year shall be agreed upon at the last board of directors meeting of the current school year.  The time for all meetings shall be 7:30 P.M. unless otherwise modified by the board of directors.  Board of directors meetings shall be adjourned by 9:30 P.M. unless a motion to extend the time is adopted by a majority vote.

2. Printed agendas shall be available and distributed for each meeting.  The president shall prepare agendas.  Agenda items should be submitted to the president at least five (5) days prior to the meeting.  Changes to the agenda must be approved by a vote of the body.

3. All motions shall be presented in writing.  Debate shall be limited to 15 minutes per motion.  A timekeeper shall be appointed by the president prior to each meeting.

4. In debate, each member has the right to speak twice on the same question on the same day, but cannot make a second speech on the same question so long as any member who has not spoken on that question desires the floor.  A member who has spoken twice on a particular question on the same day has exhausted his right to debate that question for that day.

5. The secretary shall prepare minutes for each meeting within 15 days.  Council board of directors meeting minutes shall be sent to board members at least ten (10) days prior to the next scheduled board meeting.  Minutes from general council meetings are distributed at the next general council meeting.

6. All elections by the board of directors to fill vacancies shall be by written ballot.

D.    ETHICS

1. Board members shall not engage in activities that violate PTA policies.

2. Discussion within committees shall be considered privileged information.

3. Board members are expected to support action taken by the board and to explain such action to PTA groups.

4. Board members are expected to support the state and National PTA positions.

5. Publicity or press releases shall be released only through authorized channels designated by the president.

6. Board members shall speak for the PTA Council only when authorized to do so by the president.  If board of directors members are approached by the media on PTA council issues or activities, the board members should refer the media to the PTA council president.

7. When board members disagree with the majority report of a committee on which they are serving, they should file a minority report.  They may vote as they choose.

8. No material from other agencies or organizations may be distributed by mail or at a meeting without the approval of the president.

9. No board members may be paid employees of the council.

10. The PTA Directory is for internal use of the PTA council and its local PTAs.  It shall not be released to any commercial organization, community organization, individual, or other groups without the authorization of the council president.

11. PTA council letterhead stationery and/or logo may be used only for PTA council activities as authorized by the president.

12. Guidelines for acceptable email usage are as follows:

a.       Do not write anything in an email message that you would not want to see in memos or messages to board members and other community organizations or in the pages of the local newspaper.  Email may be easily forwarded to individuals you did not intend to view the message.  Think before you send.

b.      Email messages are NOT private or privileged communications.  Courts have determined that organizational email users do not have the right to privacy regarding email messages.  Under certain circumstances, the council president may open your mail box and the audit log to view from whom and to whom your email messages were addressed.

c.       Do not swear or use foul language, type in all capital letters (perceived as yelling), or send "nasty grams".

d.      Council website and email should be used for council business.  Email should be used to convey information needed by council members in order to perform their council responsibilities.

e.       Council website and email should not be used for personal gain - advertising seminars you provide, selling Mary Kay, or renting your mountain cabin.

f.       Soliciting charitable contributions, fund raisers, raffles, etc. is prohibited.

g.      Council members' personal email addresses will not be published.  Correspondence and requests will be sent to the council email address.

h.      Keep graphics and creative fonts to a bare minimum.      

E.     FINANCE

1. The council budget is prepared by a committee, which is chaired by the treasurer.  It is presented for approval to the board of directors at the first board of directors meeting of the fiscal year.  After the close of the fiscal year and prior to the approval of the new budget up to $500 may be used for necessary expenditures.

2. When authorized purchases are made for which the Council is to be billed:

a.       The bill should be sent directly to the board of directors member responsible for the purchase;

b.      The member should check the bill and item(s) purchased for accuracy and the condition of the purchased item(s); and

c.       The member will prepare and sign a disbursement form and forward the bill and disbursement form to the treasurer within one week of receiving the bill.  If purchases are paid by the member, the receipt and disbursement form should be sent to the treasurer within thirty (30) days.

3. Council board of directors members who are actively involved in a local PTA shall seek funding for conference & convention registration, transportation, accommodations and sustenance from that local PTA.  When funding is received, at the local level, board of directors members shall notify the council president of the amount.

4. When monies are available, the board of directors shall determine the method for selection of attendees and the extent of the authorized funding.  The expenses of the board of directors members attending the Maryland PTA Summer Conference and Fall Convention may be reimbursed as follows:

a.       Travel - $0.25 per mile or the price of a travel ticket.

b.      Meals - Maximum of $25 per day, with receipts required.

c.       Hotel - Reimbursement for a hotel room for all board members shall be the rate for one-half of a double room at the hotel for the PTA function.  However, if no roommate is available, the reimbursement shall be for a single room.

d.      Parking/Tolls - Paid, receipt required.

Rates listed above are guidelines only, to be used when no committee has been established.

5. The convention committee appointed by the president shall establish reimbursement for National Convention.  This special committee shall be appointed by the February meeting.

6. Reimbursement requests shall use the council disbursement form and shall be submitted within thirty (30) days.   Those not received within thirty (30) days shall not be honored.  The executive committee may waive this requirement if in their opinion a good faith effort was made or circumstances warrant.