Adopted 1984
Last Amended April 2005
ARTICLE I – RULES OF ORDER
ROBERT’S RULES OF ORDER, REVISED shall be the authority on all questions of procedure not specifically stated in this Constitution and Bylaws.
ARTICLE II – DUTIES AND TERMS OF OFFICE
SECTION 1 – PRESIDENT
The President shall set the agenda for and preside over meetings of the Executive Board, Representative Council and general meetings; appoint the chairpersons of standing committees with the approval of the Executive Board, appoint ad hoc committees; be ex officio member of all standing committees; and shall be the executive officer of the Association. The President shall represent the Association before the public either personally or through delegates and shall perform all other functions usually attributed to this office.
SECTION 2 – VICE-PRESIDENT
The Vice-President shall carry out all duties assigned by the President and shall assume duties of the President in case of the absence or resignation of the President; be ex officio member of all standing committees; and shall be on the budget committee.
SECTION 3 – PAST-PRESIDENT
The immediate Past-President shall serve on the Executive Board and assist the President at the latter’s request.
SECTION 4 – SECRETARY
The Secretary shall keep a record of all meetings of the Representative Council, Executive Board, and General membership; shall keep on file a correct list of the names and addresses of the members of the Association; and shall handle correspondence of the Association at the direction of the President.
SECTION 5 – TREASURER
The Treasurer shall be responsible for the collection of all dues; shall have charge of all funds of the Association; shall deposit them in the bank in the name of the Association; and shall disburse funds as authorized by the Representative Council. Together with the President, the Treasurer shall sign all vouchers authorized by the Representative Council.
SECTION 6 – AREA REPRESENTATIVES
A. An Area Representative shall be designated for each 50 members or major fraction thereof in accordance with NEA guidelines for one person/one vote. Areas will be determined by the Executive Board no later than two weeks prior to the general election. Apportionment will be equitable among elementary and secondary schools.
B. Each of the Area Representatives shall represent the needs of the designated area at all Executive Board meetings; shall be responsible for continuing communication between the Executive Board and members in the area; and shall be responsible for distributing and collecting membership materials for the area and forwarding all membership materials to the Chairperson of the Membership Committee.
SECTION 7 – TERMS AND SUCCESSION
A. The elected officers will assume their duties on July 7.
B. The president shall serve for two years and may be re-elected without an intervening term, but not to exceed two full terms. If the office of President becomes vacant between elections, the Vice-President will assume the office.
C. The officers shall serve for two years and may be re-elected without an intervening term, but not to exceed two terms. In case of a vacancy in an office, the President may designate a person for that position with the approval of the Executive Board and the Representative Council.
D. Whenever the offices of both President and Vice-President become vacant between elections, the remaining members of the Executive Board shall choose one of their members to serve as President Pro Tempore until the Representative Council can fill the vacancies.
ARTICLE III – POWERS OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD
SECTION 1 – DUTIES
The Executive Board shall be responsible for the management of the Association; carry out policies established by the Representative Council; report its transactions and those of the Representative Council to the members; and suggest policies for consideration by the Representative Council.
SECTION 2 – GRIEVANCE
The Executive Board shall review all grievances at Level Four of the Grievance Procedure (arbitration) and shall decide if the Association shall appropriate funds to pursue any grievance to arbitration.
SECTION 3 – CLERICAL STAFF
Under personnel policies adopted by the Representative Council and within the annual budget, the Executive Board shall have the power to employ a staff person for the efficient operation of the Association. All qualified applicants will be afforded equal opportunity for Association staff vacancies as they occur regardless of the applicant’s race, color, creed, sex or national origin.
SECTION 4 – NEGOTIATION
The Executive Board shall represent the Association in negotiation matters with the governing and appropriating bodies of the school system. The Executive Board may delegate its powers to negotiate to a negotiations team. The negotiated agreement shall be binding and approved when:
A. a special meeting of the general membership is called by the Executive Board within 15 schools days following the conclusion of negotiations; said call shall state the purpose of the meeting is to hear a presentation of the negotiated agreement,
B. the terms of the negotiated agreement are given, in writing, to the Representative Council prior to the ballot, and
C. ratification of the proposed negotiated agreement occurs by written ballot. A majority of those voting shall be required to ratify the contract.
ARTICLE IV – POWERS OF THE REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL
SECTION 1 – DUTIES
The Representative Council shall approve the budget; act on reports of committees, approve resolutions and other policy statements. It may adopt such rules governing the conduct of the Association and the conduct of the meetings as are consistent with this Constitution and Bylaws. Powers not delegated to the Executive Board, the Officers or other groups in the Association shall be vested in the Representative Council.
ARTICLE V – BUILDING REPRESENTATIVES
SECTION 1 – ELECTION AND TERM
In each school in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District, faculty members who are members in good standing of this Association may elected for a term of one (1) year, one (1) Building Representative to the Representative Council for each ten (10) members or major fraction thereof. There shall be at least one (1) Representative from each school with members in good standing. In addition, one Alternative Representative is elected for each Representative. If more than one such Representative is elected, one shall be designated the Senior Representative. The election shall be held in September and the Representatives shall take their seats at the October meeting of the Representative Council.
SECTION 2 – DUTIES
Building Representative or Alternates shall attend the regular meetings of the Representative Council.
SECTION 3 – FACULTY MEETINGS AND DUTIES
The Building Representatives or Alternates shall call faculty meetings of Association members to discuss the Association business, and shall organize and oversee the subsequent election of Building Representatives, the enrollment of members and communication between Building Representatives and members of the Association within the building.
ARTICLE VI – COMMITTEES
SECTION 1 – TITLES AND STRUCTURE
The Standing Committees of the Association shall be:
Teacher Rights, Internal Concerns, Communication and Public Relations, Collective Bargaining, Government Relations, Educational Excellence, Health Insurance, Sick Leave Bank, District In-service, and Human Relations.
SECTION 2 – REPORTS
Each committee shall keep a continuing record of activities. Chairpersons shall report as necessary to the Representative Council and shall submit to the Executive Board an annual written report summarizing objectives, action programs, gains and unattained goals.
ARTICLE VII – SPECIAL COMMITTEES
SECTION 1 – STRUCTURE
Each year the President shall appoint an Elections Committee, a Budget Committee and such other special committees as may be necessary and shall discharge them upon completion of their duties. These committees shall operate according to rules approved by the Representative Council. No officer shall serve on the Elections Committee.
ARTICLE VIII – MEETINGS
SECTION 1 – EXECUTIVE BOARD
The Executive Board shall meet regularly each school month at a time to be designated by the Board, at the call of the President or otherwise at the request of a majority of the total Board.
SECTION 2 – REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL
The Representative Council shall meet at least once a month each school month from October through May. The specific date and time shall be determined by the Council.
SECTION 3 – SPECIAL MEETINGS, REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL
Special meetings of the Representative Council shall be held within two (2) weeks after the call of the President or upon written request to the Executive Board from 10% of the Faculty Representatives. Business to come before special meetings must be stated in the call, which shall be sent in writing to each Representative.
SECTION 4 – GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS
A meeting of the general membership may be called at any time upon request of:
A. at least ten percent (10%) of the membership of the Association. Such request shall be presented to the Representative Council or the Executive Board in written form.
B. a majority of the Executive Board after notification of all Building Representatives.
SECTION 5 – QUORUM
A majority of the members shall be a quorum of the Representative Council, Executive Board and Committees. A quorum at General Membership meetings shall be 50 members.
ARTICLE IX – BUDGET AND DUES
SECTION 1 – BUDGET COMMITTEE
A Budget Committee shall be appointed by the President during March of each year to prepare a budget for the following school year to be reviewed by the Representative Council at the April meeting. The President, Vice President and Treasurer shall be members of the Budget Committee.
SECTION 2 – DUES
Dues will be .05% of the base (BA+0) salary.
ARTICLE X – ELECTIONS
SECTION 1 – NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS OF OFFICERS
A. The members of the Association in each building during the month of February may nominate a candidate for President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Area Representatives, Delegate Assembly and Representative Assembly. Nominations shall be delivered to the MSEA Office.
B. The Elections Committee shall report all nominations to the General Membership meeting. Members of the Association may nominate other candidates from the floor.
C. The Elections Committee shall prepare and mail all ballots to the members. All ballots shall be returned to the Elections Committee.
ARTICLE XI – AMENDMENT
SECTION 1 – PROCEDURE
These By-laws may be amended by a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote at any regular meeting of the Representative Council provided that the proposed amendments shall have been previously studied by the Executive Board and that copies have been sent to Building Representatives at least two (2) calendar weeks in advance of the meeting.
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See also, MSEA Constitution or Policy Handbook
Rep Council/Executive Board Training
