Article 1
Name

1. The name of this organization shall be the Parent Teacher Organization of Desert Mountain (P.T.O.) at 22301 S. Hawes Road, Queen Creek, Arizona 85242.

 

Article 2
Objectives

1. To promote the welfare, growth, and education of children, youth, and adults in the school and the community.

2. To sponsor projects and events for the benefit of Desert Mountain students.

3. To bring a closer working relationship between home and school so that parents, administrators, and teachers may cooperate intelligently in the education of the students.

4. To keep abreast of local district objectives and to be better informed regarding local school issues.

 

Article 3
Membership

1. Membership is open to all adult members of the community whose children attend Desert Mountain Elementary and the Desert Mountain Staff.

2. Membership dues: There will be no membership dues for any parent or staff member who wants to be involved with the PTO.

3. The Executive Board will consist of no more than two employees of the school district or one employee holding no more than two positions on the PTO board.

4. All board members shall work no more than half of any PTO event. The other half of the event will be spent with their families enjoying the event.

5. No board member or volunteer will give themselves any type of discount or take items for free, unless it is approved by the executive board in advance of the event.

6. Any items, prizes, candy, food, etc. remaining after any PTO event will be the property of DME PTO. Remaining perishable items may be disbursed, by present volunteers, as deemed appropriate. Consideration of other non-profit organizations such as food banks, etc. will take precedence in distributing remaining perishables. No board members, committee chairs, or volunteers will disperse any non-perishable property of the PTO to other individuals, or keep non-perishable PTO property for themselves. The PTO board will decide how any remaining non-perishable, tangible items will be dispersed after each event.

 

Article 4
Meetings

1. The PTO executive board meeting will be held the first Thursday of every month during the school year, with the option to meet over the summer to organize for the upcoming school year. The board members will set the time by a majority decision and the meetings can be held at DME or at any other location that the board is willing to meet at.

2. The general meeting shall be held on the third Thursday of every month during the school year at 5:30 p.m. .

3. The Principal is invited to attend any of the PTO meetings.

4. At the board meetings, the vote of the PTO is always by the majority of the Executive Board Members present.

5. All general meetings are open.

6. All general meetings will be no longer than 1 hour.

7. If all business is not completed during a general meeting the PTO and the parents in attendance will vote when another meeting can be held to finish up business.

8. All board meetings are closed in the interest of time and efficiency. Exceptions may be granted by the council to invited guests representing official board business.

9. Teacher requests for purchases or funds must be submitted in writing to the PTO mailbox. Requests must be submitted by the first Wednesday of any month, prior to the Executive Board meeting held on the first Thursday of every month. This is to provide time for the Executive Board to review and discuss the request prior to the General meeting on the third Thursday of every month. For the request to be voted on and approved, the teacher or a same-grade representative must be in attendance to present the request at the general meeting on the third Thursday of the month.

 

Article 5
The Board

1. The Board of the organization shall consist of the following officers: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Fund-raising Chairperson, Publicity Chairperson, Yearbook Chairperson, Teacher Appreciation Chairperson, Incentive Committee Chairperson, Book Fair Chairperson, and Webmaster.

2. The duty of loyalty requires that a board member act with best interest of the organization in mind. The Board members must be willing to contribute enough time to serve the PTO and further its work. The Board must be willing to learn, grow, want to work well with others as part of a team, and have a respect and trust for the others on the board. They must be interested in all programs within the school, the education and the well being of our children and our community.

3. Officers and their duties:

· President: Shall preside over all meetings, coordinate and oversee the work to the officers and committee chairpersons to ensure alignment with the organizations objectives. Shall be fair with all board members, delegate responsibilities, and offer assistance. Signs all orders and vouchers. Meet with the Principal to discuss any upcoming activities and plans and seek approval. Coordinate the calendar for the PTO. Schedule meetings, distribute materials received to the appropriate officers, consult with officers and chairpersons before events to ensure everyone is working together. Be one of the officers authorized to sign the checks of the organization, do any banking deposits.

· Vice President: Assume responsibility for duties designated by the President. Represent the President in his/her absence or upon request. If temporarily representing the President, the Vice President must immediately report to the President any new business. To help and assist the Fund Raising Chairperson to organize any up coming fund raising activities.

· Secretary: Keep records and notes of each board meeting and general meeting. Handle official correspondence as directed by the President. Do agendas for the board meetings and the general meetings as directed by the President.

· Treasurer: Shall have custody of all financial records and PTO funds, shall maintain current records, shall submit monthly financial report to the board, shall submit quarterly financial report for the PTO bulletin board, shall close out all fund raisers, during fund raisers the treasurer shall collect moneys daily and keep track of daily sales for the board, give an end of the year financial report, be one of the officers authorized to sign the checks of the organization, and do any banking deposits.

· Fund Raising Chairperson: Shall be responsible for organizing all board approved PTO fundraising events. shall work with and keep the President informed, shall work with the Treasurer and keep the Treasurer informed on any and all financing information, and shall instruct the Vice President of his/her duties during that fund raising activities.

· Publicity Chairperson: Produce all flyers for upcoming PTO meetings and oversee that they are dispersed to parents. Shall handle advertising for carnivals such as flyers and posters, all PTO information for the school paper, and the local newspaper, assist the President in any donation letters, and place any "thank you"'s to businesses in the local newspaper, and "thank you"'s to businesses and volunteers on the PTO bulletin board at the end of the year.

· Teacher Appreciation Chairperson: This person shall be in charge of birthday cards, Christmas cards and any other special occasion to all teachers and staff. Be in charge of appreciation dinners during conferences or any other time, and shall help to organize some kind of "thank you" from the PTO at the end of the year to all parents that volunteered during the school year.

· Yearbook Chairperson: Shall take, oversee, and submit pictures to the Board for the yearbook; oversee the organizing, layout, and printing of the yearbook; submit the final yearbook to the board for approval; work with Publicity Chairperson to advertise the yearbook; work with the Treasurer on sales; oversee the distribution of the yearbooks.

· Incentive Committee Chairperson: Shall act as a liaison between the Incentive Committee and the PTO. Will solicit support from businesses and private individuals to provide the contents of the "Coyote Store". Will work with Principal and teachers to create and define the yearly goals of the Incentive Committee. All funds donated to the Incentive Committee will go to the general PTO fund but will be earmarked for distribution in support of this committee.

· Webmaster: Maintain the PTO website. Keep all pages updated with correct information, such as the Calendar and Events pages. Post meeting minutes and PTO newsletters.

 

Article 6
Voting Procedure

1. Nominations for the Board will be taken at the April general meeting. People nominated must have a child attending Desert Mountain Elementary School.

2. PTO Board elections shall be held at the May PTO general meeting.

3. All votes shall be on written ballot.

4. The Principal of DME and the past President or a past board member shall be in charge of counting votes.

5. The PTO shall send out a nomination form/letter to all parents whose children attend DME to give them the opportunity to nominate someone or themselves for a PTO office. The form/letter will have the PTO election day listed for them to attend the election meeting.

6. New officers shall take their positions 10 business days from the last day of the school year.

7. The term of office shall be one year. Re-election for consecutive terms may occur.

8. Vacancies shall be filled by the appointment of the Board.

9. Removal from office may occur by a majority vote of the Board for missing more than two consecutive Board meetings, failure to perform assigned duties, corruption, or any act that brings dishonor to the organization or negates the objectives of the organization. Removal shall take place after the board has met in an effort to discuss the problem and all attempts have been made to resolve the problem. Removal shall be done by a majority vote of the board. No board member has the right to change any decision that the board members made. If a board member intentionally does not follow thru with the decision of the board, it will result in removal from the board.

 

Article 7
Funds

1. Authorized signatures on PTO checks shall include the President, the Vice-President, or the Treasurer. The signature on any check can not be the payee.

2. To be reimbursed from the PTO a reimbursement form along with the receipt or invoice must be stapled to the reimbursement form and submitted to the Treasurer. The Treasurer will submit the invoice to the board to verify if the funds were approved. The President or the Vice President shall sign the form and the Treasurer will disperse the check.

3. There must be a minimum of $200.00 in the bank account at all times.

4. At the end of the school year there must be $1,500.00 left in the bank account for the upcoming school year.

5. All PTO financial and other pertinent records must be turned over within 10 business days from the last day of the school year. The incoming and outgoing Presidents and Treasurers must make themselves available to sign and record the transfer of bank accounts. Financial records would include: bank account records, outstanding debt records, history of all transactions, receipts, and tax information. Other pertinent records include: date of contracted events, frequent contacts, willing volunteers information, sample forms/documents, PTO inventory, etc.

6. The purpose for which the organization is organized are exclusively religious, charitable, scientific, literary, and educational within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Law.

7. Not withstanding any other provisions of these articles, this organization shall not carry on any activities not permitted to be carried on by an organization exempt from Federal Income Tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue Law.

8. In the event of dissolution, the residual assets of the organization will be turned over to one or more organizations which themselves are exempt as organizations described in sections 501(c)(3) and 180(c)(2) of the Internal revenue code of 1986 or the corresponding sections of any prior of future Internal Revenue Code, or to the Federal, State, or local government for exclusive public purpose.

9. At the end of an event where monies have been collected, a cash control slip will be filled out by two members of the Board. The members of the Board can not be next of kin. Both members should count the money, sign, and date the slip. The yellow copy goes to the President, pink copy to the Vice-President, and white copy is kept with the deposit slip by the Treasurer.

10. PTO funds should go directly from the school to the bank for deposit. If the bank is not open, monies will be stored in the school safe. PTO funds should not be taken home.

11. A letter will be written to the payee of checks that are written to PTO and returned for insufficient funds. The letter will contain a copy of the returned check, a request for the written amount and the fees charged to PTO for the check. The check will be returned to the payee upon receipt of cash, money order, or certified check.

 

Article 8
Procedures

1. The order of business at general meetings shall be as follows to assure a prompt and productive meeting. Welcome, Treasurer's report, Business of the Board, New Business, Adjournment.

2. A financial review committee shall review the PTO books annually before the books are turned over to the new board. The committee should consist of at least three outgoing board members and three incoming board members who will match every financial request with every receipt. The committee's report will be submitted to the Board at the first general meeting of the new school year. The committee will be appointed by the President and approved by the Board. The principal will act as mediator in the case of a dispute.

 

Article 9
By-Laws Adoption

1. The By-laws shall be adopted by majority vote of the organizations members present at any meeting. Prior notification of the by-laws as an agenda item must be made to the membership.

 

Article 10
Amendments

1. The by-laws may be amended by the majority vote at any PTO general meeting.

2. Notification of voting on proposed amendments must be made by the Monday prior to the general PTO meeting.

 

Article 11
Dissolution

1. The organization may only be dissolved following a majority vote of the members present at a meeting called and publicized for the purpose of dissolution.

2. Upon the winding up and dissolution of this organization, after paying debts of the organization, the remaining assets shall be donated to the Desert Mountain Elementary School Student Fund Account.

 

Article 12
Conducting Business via E-Mail

1. If an issue arises and must be addressed before the next PTO meeting, the first contact is the president by telephone. In the event the president is unavailable the vice-president should be contacted.

2. If necessary the president/vice president can then send out an e-mail to the rest of the board to open discussion. Not until a majority of the board, 5 people, has responded can the president/vice president ask for a motion to be made. The pending issue can then be voted on and posted.

3. Any business conducted via e-mail should be an agenda item for the next meeting. It can then be recorded by the secretary and posted.

 

Article 13
Book Fairs

1. The PTO, with help from volunteers, will organize and oversee not more than two book fairs in a school year.

2. All proceeds received from the book fairs belong to the Desert Mountain library. The librarian will oversee the disbursements of funds.