BYLAWS OF CONNECTING
ARTICLE I.
OFFICES
Principal Office
1.01. Connecting Waters Charter
School’s (hereafter “CWCS”) administrative office address is 12420
Bentley Street, Waterford, California.
Change of Address
1.02. CWCS may only change its
administrative office address from one location to another according to the
terms of its Charter, and by agreement with its Administrator and Waterford
Unified School District Board of Trustees.
ARTICLE II.
PARENT COUNCIL
Council Members
2.01 CWCS shall be
governed by a Parent Council consisting of 29 members.
Qualifications
2.02. Parent Council members shall be parents or
legal guardians of CWCS students currently enrolled in CWCS. No more than one
parent from any family may serve as a Parent Council member at any time. No ES, school
employee or any school employee's spouse or dependent may
serve as a School Parent Council member.
Term of Office
2.03. The term of office for each member shall be
two years commencing on the first day of the academic year following a member’s
election to the Parent Council. If a Parent
Council Member resigns, is removed, or is no longer eligible to serve as a member then they shall be replaced as
prescribed in these Bylaws. If a Parent Council member is removed at a
special Parent Council meeting called and held as prescribed in these bylaws,
that member will hold office until his or her successor is elected.
Nominations
2.04. Any person
qualified to be a Parent Council member may be nominated as authorized by the
Parent Council.
Election
2.05.
The members of the Parent Council
shall be elected by a majority vote cast by the parents of CWCS students.
Elections shall be held during May of each year. Each election shall be by
written ballot. Each family having one or more student(s) enrolled in CWCS on
the date of the elections shall be entitled to one vote per enrolled student. A candidate for election to any Parent
Council seat will be placed on a list of candidates by a parent nomination
endorsed by an ES. A Parent Council
member shall only be eligible for reelection for a new term after at least one
year has passed since the end of that member’s prior term of office, provided
the member continues to meet the qualifications required for Parent Council
membership set forth in these Bylaws.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Parent Council may by majority vote
make a one-time exception to this reelection rule for any individual in the
event of any exceptional circumstances as the Parent Council may
determine. A Parent Council member who
has been appointed to fill a vacancy on the Parent Council for a term less than
one year shall be eligible for reelection to the Parent Council for a full term
at the termination of the appointed term, but will be otherwise subject to all
eligibility requirements.
Compensation
2.06. The members
of the Parent Council shall serve with compensation as established by the
Parent Council.
Parent Council Meetings
2.07(a). Regular
Parent Council meetings shall be held at least quarterly, and shall be held at
the
(b) Special meetings of the
Parent Council may be called and held pursuant to the provisions of the Ralph
M. Brown Act.
Quorum
2.08.
A quorum of the Parent Council
necessary for the transaction of business shall be a majority of the elected
members.
Transactions of Parent Council
2.09.
Every act or decision done or made by a majority of the Parent Council
Members present at a meeting duly held at which a quorum is present is the act
of the Parent Council.
Conduct of Meetings
2.10.
The CWCS school site administrator will preside at Parent Council
meetings, and may appoint temporary officers to serve at Parent Council
meetings in the absence of regularly appointed officers. The
Parent Council President will conduct the meetings. The Parent Council Secretary or, in the Secretary's
absence, any person appointed by the presiding officer will act as Secretary of
the Parent Council. Members of the Parent Council may participate in a meeting
through use of conference telephone or similar communications equipment, so
long as all members participating in the meeting can hear one another. This
participation constitutes personal presence at the meeting. Gov. Code §54953
Adjournment
2.11.
A majority of the Parent Council members present at the meeting, whether
or not a quorum is present, may adjourn any meeting to another time and place.
If the meeting is adjourned for more than 24 hours, notice of the adjournment
to another time or place must be given before the time of the adjourned meeting
to the Parent Council members who were not present at the time of the
adjournment.
Removal of Members--Removal for Cause
2.12. (a) Each Parent Council member shall consider their position as
a public trust and not use it for private advantage or personal gain. The Parent Council may declare
by a majority vote that the office of a Parent Council member is vacant and a
member may be removed for cause on the occurrence of any of the following
events:
(1) The member has been declared of
unsound mind by a final order of court.
(2) The member has been convicted of a
felony.
(3) The member has failed to attend 2
regular meetings of the Parent Council in a school year.
(4) The member has not followed parent
council communication protocol.
(5) The member
has failed to uphold the CWCS policies and procedures.
(6) The
member has wrongfully published or distributed confidential Parent Council
information.
(7) Ineligibility
or lack of qualification to hold office.
Resignation of Member
2.13. Any Parent Council member may
resign effective on giving written notice to the President of the Parent
Council or the CWCS site administrator.
Filling Vacancies by Parent Council Members
2.14.
Vacancies on the Parent Council may be filled by vote of the Parent
Council, or, if the number of members then in office is less than a quorum, by
the Site Administrator appointing (1) parent(s) who were
candidates but unelected in a prior election in order of the number of votes
received, (2) parent(s) whose names have been submitted to the school secretary
at the school office or to the Site administrator by parents with ES
endorsement, or (3) parents selected by the site administrator. All such appointments shall be subject to
confirmation by the Parent Council at its next regular meeting. Any vacancy
on the Parent Council filled as set forth herein shall be for the remainder of
the term of the vacancy, and thereafter, that member’s seat shall be open for
election as otherwise provided herein.
Administrator and Parent Council Business
2.15. Pursuant to the CWCS charter, the day-to-day governance and management of CWCS will
be provided by Innovative Education Management (“Administrator”), or such other
appropriate non-profit public benefit corporation as the Parent Council may
select. IEM will oversee the charter
school’s operations and will provide the
various professionals needed to manage and administer the school. IEM will act
as liaison with the sponsoring district.
The Parent Council shall be responsible
for reviewing all proposed budgets, receiving all reports of operations,
providing advice and parental direction to Administrator consistent with the
Charter, charter school law, and other agreements between Administrator and
CWCS, and establishing committees relating to CWCS business and operations as
appropriate and necessary. All
committees will consist of Parent Council Members unless the Parent Council
determines otherwise.
The Parent Council shall establish a standing Expulsion Committee
of five Council members pursuant to the CWCS charter.
Communication Protocol
2.16 Parent Council members shall communicate directly with, and
shall report all CWCS or parent problems, questions, or issues to the Site
Administrator who shall communicate directly with Administrator. Administrator and Site Administrator shall,
as appropriate, communicate the resolution of such matters to the Parent
Council.
Indemnification of Parent Council Members
2.17. Except as otherwise provided by law, and upon the vote of the Parent Council, CWCS shall indemnify any person who was or is a Parent Council member who is or is threatened to be made a party to any proceeding by reason of the fact that such person is or was a Parent Council member, against expenses, judgments, fines, settlements and other amounts actually and reasonably incurred in connection with such proceeding if such person acted in good faith and in a manner such person reasonably believed to be in the best interests of CWCS, and, in the case of a criminal proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe the conduct of such person was unlawful.
ARTICLE III.
OFFICERS
Number and Titles
3.01. The officers of the Parent Council
shall be a President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer for Fund Raising.
The Parent Council Secretary may but shall not be required to be a
member of the Parent Council. The Parent
Council may appoint such other officers, from time to time, as it deems
appropriate or helpful to fulfill its duties.
Appointment and Resignation
3.02. Parent Council officers will be appointed by
and serve at the pleasure of the Parent Council for one year. The Parent Council may appoint any person to
serve as an officer for one or more successive years. Any officer may resign at any time on written
notice to the Parent Council.
ARTICLE IV.
CORPORATE RECORDS, REPORTS, AND SEAL
Keeping Records
4.01. The Parent Council must keep
adequate and correct records of account and minutes of the proceedings of its
members and the committees of the Parent Council. The minutes will be kept in
written form. Other books and records will be kept in either written form or in
any other form capable of being converted into written form.
ARTICLE V.
AMENDMENTS TO BY-LAWS
5.01. The Parent Council may adopt, amend or repeal
any of these by-laws; provided, however, the Parent Council may not adopt,
amend or repeal any by-law or take any other action that would result in
changing any provision(s) of or be in conflict with the Charter that created
CERTIFICATE OF SECRETARY
I hereby certify that I am the duly appointed
and acting Secretary of the Parent Council of Connecting Waters Charter School,
and that the foregoing Bylaws, comprising _________________ [number]
pages, constitute the Bylaws of this school as duly adopted at a meeting of the
Parent Council held on _________________ [date].
Dated: _________________.
_________________ [signature]
[typed name], Secretary