BYLAWS OF CONNECTING
WATERS CHARTER SCHOOL
ARTICLE I. OFFICES
Principal Office
1.01. Connecting Waters Charter
SchoolŐs (hereafter ŇCWCSÓ) administrative office address is 12420
Bentley Street, Waterford, California 95386.
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 22 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 memberŐs 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 memberŐs 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 Conference Center, or otherwise a location within the sponsoring district
as the Parent Council may from time to time direct. All meetings of the Parent Council shall
comply with the Ralph M. Brown Act (Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 54950)
of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code).
(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) parent(s) 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 memberŐs 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 (IEM) (ŇAdministratorÓ),
or such other appropriate non-profit public benefit corporation as the Parent
Council may select. IEM will oversee the charter schoolŐs
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 Connecting Waters Charter School
except by mutual written agreement with IEM.
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