FOW By-Laws

 

Friends of Walgrove

By-Laws 3/31/2010

 

 

Article I. NAME.

The name of the organization shall be The Friends of Walgrove Booster Club a.k.a Friends of Walgrove. Hereafter known in these by-laws as FOW.

Article II. EFFECTIVENESS & ENFORCEMENT.

These by-laws shall supercede any and all previous versions and be the current and definitive version under which the FOW shall be governed.

 

Article III. PURPOSE & MISSION.

     The purpose and mission of FOW shall be as follows:

a)   To raise funds and stimulate community support in order to provide quality school programs, enrichments, and other assistance, helping Walgrove become a truly outstanding public school.

b)   To further unite the home, school, and community environments through the adapted motto: “Walgrove - uniting children, teachers, and parents.”

c)   To aggressively raise funds to support the purpose and mission of FOW listed above as well as other programs and goals beyond the LAUSD allocated budget.

d)   To present a positive image of Walgrove in the community and raise the profile of the school through outreach, publicity, events, and personal interaction.

Article IV. MEMBERSHIP.

Eligibility for membership: Membership shall not be based on race, creed, religious belief, or political affiliation.

a)  Membership, is open to, and a right of, all parents who have a child currently enrolled at Walgrove.  Each Member shall have the right to cast one vote on all FOW voting issues and elections.

b)  Non-Voting Membership is open to, but a privilege of, parents considering enrolling their children in Walgrove.

c)  Non-Voting Membership is open to, but a privilege of, those individuals and organizations who are sympathetic and in agreement with the purpose and mission listed in Article II.

d)  Membership of any kind may be revoked or denied under the following criteria:

1)  An individual, organization, or prospective parent(s) who is consistently acting in opposition to the purpose and mission listed in Article III.

2)  An individual, organization, or prospective parent who, in the opinion of the FOW Executive Officers is a consistently negative presence or influence in FOW or school matters.

e)  In order to revoke or deny membership a vote must be taken by the Executive Officers in which a simple majority shall be the deciding factor.    

Article V. FOW STRUCTURE.

a)  FOW shall be comprised of the following elected Officers:

President (must have a child in 1^st grade or higher)
Vice-President
Secretary
Treasurer
Controller

Fundraising Committee Chair

 

Or

 

Two Co-Presidents (One must have a child in 1^st grade or higher)

Secretary
Treasurer
Controller

Fundraising Committee Chair

 

b)  FOW shall also be comprised of a list of committees, which will undoubtedly change over time based on need and interest. See the attached schedule A for a current list of these committees.

Article VI. ELECTION OF OFFICERS.

Above listed officers shall be installed through a nomination and election process that shall take effect at the end of the school year.

 

a)  Nominations for the six officers shall be submitted to the FOW no later than the second to last meeting of the year.

b)  The two names with the most nominations for each position shall be placed on a ballot for an open vote at the last FOW meeting of the school year.

c)  The two nominees for each office shall have equal time, if desired, to make a statement as to their abilities and assets for their desired office. This shall take place no later then the last FOW meeting of the school year.

d)  The open vote for officers shall take place at the last FOW meeting of the school year.

e)  The nominations and ballots shall be counted by the Secretary and results shall be made known within 2 days of the vote via posting in the office and/or electronic transmission.

f)  Nominations and actual ballots shall be kept in a file on record for review, inspection, or recount by any current member of FOW.

g)  In the event that there is only one nomination for an office, that person shall be the sole name on the ballot.

h)  Vacancies created during a term shall be filled by a person elected after nomination at the next FOW meeting, or an emergency meeting to vote, if needed.

i)  An officer may be removed by a 75% majority vote at a FOW meeting if, in the judgment of the FOW membership, the best interest of the organization would be best served in doing so.

1.   In order to put the issue to vote there must be a petition signed by Walgrove parents and FOW members. The signatures shall represent 51% of the families at the school.

Article VII. DUTIES OF OFFICERS.

a)  The elected officers shall be required to perform the following duties:

     President –

·       Oversees all operations of FOW and is ultimately responsible for it’s successful operation.

·       Aggressively coordinates staffing of committees and FOW volunteers.

·       Creates FOW meeting agenda based on current business and open call for items prior to meetings and conducts meetings in an efficient and timely manner.

·       Facilitates and creates ballots for voting on agenda items as needed.

·       Acts as liaison between FOW and Walgrove administration.

·       Fields parent questions/concerns and helps find resolution to individual/communal issues.

·       Responds to requests from Walgrove staff and administration for help in supporting school programs and needs.

·       Monitors FOW paid staff (Studio Teacher, PE Teacher, Teachers Aides, Computer Lab Teacher, etc.) with regard to attendance, performance, and general effectiveness. 

     Vice-President –

·       Stay abreast of all current FOW business and substitute for President as needed based on the above duties.

·       Work in conjunction with President based need and on mutually agreed on division of above duties.

·       Step in as acting President until an election to replace an evicted or outgoing President is held.

     Secretary –

·       Attend and take minutes of all FOW meetings, which are to be made available via soft copy document and uploaded to the website within 5 days of meeting.

·       Count and record ballots from open votes at FOW meetings and make results available the following day via electronic method and hard copy posting in the office.

·       Check and forward voicemails from FOW phone line to appropriate people.

·       Assist and/or facilitate access to any information regarding FOW for business purposes (tax ID, non-profit letter confirmations, grant info, etc.). 

 

Treasurer and Controller - 

Both will have ability to sign checks, but Controller will handle day-to-day duties in financial transactions. 

 

Treasurer:

·       Sets and enforces budget.

·       Establishing Accounting controls.

·       Taxes

·       Cash flow management

 

Controller:

·       Controls day to day financial transactions

·       Processes payroll

·       Reports to Treasurer periodically (P&L, Cash flow, Balance Sheet)

 

Outside Finance committee:

·       Running credit cards for annual fund will fall under the Annual fund committee.

·       Management and tallying up of hours for FOW employees will fall under either an on-site administrator, or the FOW office manager that we discussed at the meeting.

Budget Chair –

·       Oversee Finance & Budget Committee, which will assess spending proposals and present financial feasibility to open FOW meetings.

·       Maintain awareness of financial goals and advise FOW as to the status of where we are in relation to those goals.

·       Provide proposed budget in late April or May for the following year to be approved by FOW membership.  Upon approval provide final budget, which will be made available to all FOW members via electronic or hard copy.

 

Fundraising Committee Chair -

Is responsible for the following duties:

 

·       Recruitment for the Fundraising Committees to assure that adequate leadership and teams are in place to run all of the FOW fundraising programs, including but not limited to - the Annual Fund, Business Partner Outreach, Yard Sale, Sally Foster Sales, Artwork for Education and Annual Silent Auction.

 

·       Oversight of the Fundraising Committee who will execute all of the fundraising events and programs to support Walgrove Elementary School.

 

·       Work with the Treasurer and Controller to plan the budget and track our income to make sure that we are on target with our financial goals.

 

·       Ongoing review and evaluation of our programs to assure that we are reaching the above goals and also running effective programming within our community.

 

·       Working in conjunction with the Grants Committee to provide information and support for their efforts to be awarded grants.

 

b)  All Elected Officers Shall:

1.  Perform the duties outlined in these by-laws.

2.  Make all reasonable effort to perform other duties and tasks that best serve the purpose and mission of FOW.

3.  Make themselves easily accessible and respond to all communication in a timely manner.

4.  Upon expiration of their term or resignation from office, turn over all records, documents, books, and materials pertaining to office to their successor or President without delay.

Article VIII.  SCHOOL REPRESENTATIVES.

It will serve both the FOW and Walgrove to have the following representatives who are employed by the school be involved in the FOW:

 

a)  Principal – the school Principal, Assistant Principal, or designated alternate should attend all monthly meetings and have voting privileges.

b)  Teacher Representative – the teacher representative and/or alternate shall be a volunteer from the teaching staff and should make all efforts to attend monthly FOW meetings.  The teacher representative shall have voting privileges.

Article IX. MEETINGS.

a)  Regular monthly meetings shall be held in a time and place that is made known to the FOW membership through email, flyers, and other posted notices. Currently the meetings take place on the first Tuesday of each month at 6:30pm on the school campus. 

b)  Call for agenda items shall go out at least 1 week prior to the meeting and the agenda shall be published and made available to the FOW members via electronic or hard copy no later than the day prior to the meeting so that members may be made aware of any items they feel the need to participate in or voice opinion on.

c)  Eleven members shall constitute a quorum for voting items or the transaction of business in these meetings.

d)  The President or five committee heads may call a special or emergency FOW meeting with three days notice being given through email, flyers, and other posted notices. 

Article X.  BUDGET APPROVAL.

The FOW must have an approved operating budget from which to work.  This will be approved no later than the last FOW meeting of the school year for the following year.

 

a)  The Budget Committee shall submit a proposed budget for the next school year at the April FOW meeting.

b)  If needed, there will be one or more special meetings to discuss and adjust total and individual budget items.

c)  There shall be an open vote no later than the last FOW meeting of the current school year at which time the budget must be approved by a 51% majority vote.

Article XI. DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS.

a)  Any checks written to pay for items or programs in the operating budget shall be considered pre-approved since the FOW membership will have previously voted on and approved the budget.

b)  Request For Funds:

Anyone requesting funds from FOW in support of a school program or to purchase supplies must submit a Spending Proposal Form. A copy of this form and the routing of approval is attached to the back of these by-laws. 

 

c)  Spending Authorizations:

Through out the year FOW will need to spend money on items that arise or are not listed in the operating budget. The following are the required authorizations based on levels of spending:

 

$1 - $200      President’s signature.

$201 - $500    Signatures of President, and two elected officers.

Above $500     Approval of FOW membership via open vote at FOW meeting.  NOTE - This vote is only possible if the Budget Committee has verified that the funds for the proposal are available and uncommitted elsewhere.  This opinion must be unbiased and based only on the amount requested, not the content or nature of the request. 

 

Article XII. ACCESS TO INFORMATION.

a)  Any FOW member in good standing shall have the right to access any and all information regarding the operation of FOW.

b)  Any person who has not been denied, or revoked membership, and is writing a grant to benefit FOW programs or in support of Walgrove shall have complete and total access to all previously written grants supporting Walgrove in any way, whether successfully granted or not, and be free to make copies as needed with the idea that such information shall be an asset in pursuing future grants.

Article XIII. AMENDMENTS.

a)  These by-laws may be amended at a regular FOW membership meeting with a 2/3 majority of voting members.

b)  Notice of the vote to amend must be given 30 days prior to the vote and text of the proposed amendment must be made available via electronic and/or hard copy for review at that time.  

c)  The amendment shall be effective upon approval vote by general membership.

Article XIV. DISSOLUTION.

a)  Dissolution of the FOW, if necessary, shall be effective upon a 2/3 majority vote of the general membership.

1. In order to put the dissolution issue to vote there must be a petition signed by Walgrove parents and FOW members. The signatures shall represent 51% of the families at the school.

b)  In the event of dissolution any remaining funds or assets owned by FOW shall be distributed to an organization with similar or associated purpose or mission. This organization shall be determined by recommendation or through a nomination process from general FOW membership and be approved by a 2/3 majority vote of the FOW membership. 

c)  In the event of dissolution all records, documents, books, and materials shall be collected from the various officers, board members, and committee heads to be placed in storage on the school campus for a period of two years, after which they may be discarded.

 

Article XV.  RATIFICATION.

a)  This version of these by-laws have been approved and voted on in a general FOW meeting on ________________________, 2010.

Signed,

 

________________________________________ President