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Bylaws

Ridgeland Secondary Academy of Excellence 

School Improvement Council Bylaws 

 

Article 1 

NAME OF ORGANIZATION 

The name of the organization is the Ridgeland Secondary Academy of Excellence School Improvement Council (RSAE SIC). 

 

Article 2 

PURPOSE 

The purpose of the Ridgeland Secondary Academy of Excellence School Improvement Council is to: 

 

(1)  assist in the development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the five-year School Improvement Plan (also known as the "School Renewal Plan" or "Strategic Plan");  

 

(2)  assist in the preparation of yearly Plan updates;    

 

(3)  assist the school in the development and implementation of the School Reading Plan as required by the Read to Succeed Act;  

 

(4)  write the annual SIC Report to the Parents, which is to be distributed no later than April 30 of each year;  

 

(5)  prepare, together with the principal, the annual narrative for the SC School Report     

       Card; 

 

(6)  provide advice on the use of school incentive award expenditures (if allocated by  

       the legislature and awarded to the school); 

 

(7)  provide other assistance as requested by the principal or local school board.  

 

The Council will not have the powers and duties reserved by law or regulation to the local school board. 

 

Article 3 

REPRESENTATION AND MEMBERSHIP 

The RSAE SIC will include: 

 

(1) A minimum of two parents of current students in the school elected by parents. 

 

(2) A minimum of two students elected by students enrolled in the school. 

 

(3) A minimum of six teachers elected by teachers in each of the following departments: Related Arts, Mathematics, ELA, Science, Social Studies, Middle School. These teachers will serve as representatives.  

 

(4) At least two members of the local community appointed by the principal. The principal will make these appointments from the non-parent portion of the community and will strive to make appointments that reflect the diversity of the student body and local community. 

 

(5)  Ex-officio members are included by virtue of the position they hold in the school or organization associated with the school. By law, the school’s principal is automatically considered an ex-officio member of the council. At least three ex-officio members in addition to the principal will serve on the council including, but not limited to, the current Teacher of the Year, the current PTA/PTO Chairperson, the previous SIC Chair, and a business partner. If an individual holding an ex-officio position is unable to serve on the SIC for any reason, an appropriate substitute shall be named by the organization that individual represents.   

 

(6)  The SIC shall, at all times, be made up of a total of twice as many elected members 

as appointed members as required by state law. Ex-officio members are not counted in this calculation.   

 

(7)  All members will have one vote. Absentee ballots or proxy voting will not be permitted.  

 

        

Article 4 

ELECTION AND APPOINTMENT PROCEDURES 

(A) All Council members will be elected or appointed by October 15th of each school year. The specific date, time, and location that SIC nominations and elections are to be held will be determined by the SIC from year to year and publicized in advance within the school community. The principal will appoint community member representatives, in consultation with elected SIC members. Council members will assume their responsibilities immediately upon their election or appointment. 

 

(B)  The SIC, in consultation with the principal, will develop and approve procedures for parent nominations and elections that are fair and encourage participation by all parents. The SIC and school will communicate information about SIC parent nomination and election schedules and procedures to all parents who are eligible to vote in a timely manner using the most effective methods of communication reasonably available. 

 

(C)  Teachers will nominate and elect their representatives to the SIC during a regularly scheduled faculty meeting in the preceding spring.   

 

(D)  Students will nominate and elect their representatives to the SIC in the spring of the preceding school year. There will be no campaigning for SIC student representatives. All SIC student representatives will be at-large representatives elected by the whole student body. 

 

(E)  The SIC will keep the results of SIC parent, teacher, and student elections on file, including the vote totals for all candidates, for a period of at least two years.   

 

(F)  In order to comply with state law reporting requirements, the principal or his/her designee will enter the names and contact information for the current school year's SIC members into the online SC-SIC Member Network no later than November 15.    

 

 (G)  The SIC Chairperson will ensure that the names of all SIC members for the current school year are posted on the school website and/or published in the school newsletter.   

 

Article 5 

TERMS OF OFFICE 

(A)  All elected and appointed members of the council will serve 2-year terms, except students who must be re-elected annually. The terms are to be staggered to the extent possible. Ex-officio members will serve by virtue of the office the hold which is designated to be on the council.  

 

(B) No limit will be set on the number of terms a member may serve.                         

 

(C)  The council may establish committees made up of teachers, parents, business leaders, students, and other citizens to study specific issues and make recommendations to the council. These committees will not be permanent and will have no responsibilities beyond those outlined by the council when established.  

 

(D) Membership on the council will terminate when a member: 

(1) no longer has a child at the school; 

 

(2) no longer holds a teaching position at the school; 

 

(3) submits a letter of resignation to the chairperson; or 

 

(4) is elected to the district School Board.  

 

In the event of any of the above situations, the chairperson will appoint, in the case of an elected member, the person with the next highest number of votes in the most recent election. In the case of an appointed member, the principal will select a replacement. In both situations, the replacement will finish the term of the person being replaced.  

 

Article 6 

SIC OFFICERS 

(A) The officers of the Ridgeland Secondary Academy of Excellence School Improvement Council will consist of a Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, and Secretary. The SIC will elect these officers from among its elected and appointed members. Officer elections will be held during the first regular meeting after the SIC has completed its elections and appointments for the year. The term of office for SIC officers is one year. 

(B) Any elected or appointed SIC member is eligible to run for SIC office except that all three officer positions may not be held at the same time by the same type of elected representative. Ex-officio members, including the principal, are not eligible to serve as, or vote in the election of, SIC officers.   

 

 

Article 7 

DUTIES OF OFFICERS 

The chairperson is responsible for:  

  1. presiding at all meetings and supervising the activities of the council and working with the principal in planning and directing the activities of the council including monitoring committee progress;  

 

  1. in consultation with the principal, preparing an agenda for all council meetings and ensuring that the agenda will be sent to all council members and the community at large at least one week prior to the meeting, retaining the right to modify the agenda if it is determined to be in the best interest of the council and directing the pace of the meeting as best accomplishes the agenda;  

 

  1. appointing temporary or standing committees as needed and serving as an ex-officio member of all committees; 

 

  1. acting as spokesperson of the SIC when working with the faculty, parent or community groups, district staff, and local school board;  

 

  1. signing documents assuring SIC participation, such as the school’s Annual Report to the Parents, the narrative accompanying the annual state School Report Card, and any incentive award expenditures; 

 

  1. monitoring the SC-SIC Member Network to confirm that updated SIC membership information is posted by the school administration by Nov. 15 of each school year and that the SIC’s annual Report to the Parents is uploaded to the Member Network by April 30 of each year;  

 

(7)  helping to maintain the SIC page on the school website. 

 

The vice chairperson will exercise all functions in the absence of the chairperson and assist the chairperson as needed. The vice chairperson will serve as chair of one of the standing committees, selected in collaboration with the chairperson.  

 

The secretary is responsible for:  

  1. keeping a full and accurate account of the proceedings and actions of all council meetings (minutes) and ensuring that each council member receives this information within one week following each meeting;  

 

  1. preparing any official correspondence that the chairperson may request;  

 

  1. assisting in maintaining a shared folder containing copies of all agendas, minutes, council correspondence, the annual school improvement report, the report to the parents, the school report card, and the current council by-laws;  

 

  1. maintaining a listing of council membership with current telephone numbers, addresses and (if available) e-mail addresses; 

  

Article 8 

SIC COMMITTEES 

(A)  The SIC may establish, by a majority vote recorded in the meeting minutes, one or more standing committees as needed to assist in the efficient and effective operation of the Council.   

 

(B)  The SIC may also establish, by a majority vote recorded in the meeting minutes, one or more temporary committees made up of teachers, parents, students, business leaders, and other citizens to study specific issues and make recommendations to the Council. An individual need not be an SIC member to serve as a temporary committee chairperson or member; however, each temporary committee shall include at least one SIC member.   

 

(C)  The SIC Chairperson will appoint the members of standing and temporary SIC committees and designate committee chairpersons. 

 

(D)  Such standing and temporary committees shall regularly report and remain accountable to the full SIC and their scope of work shall be limited to that assigned to them by the full SIC. 

 

 

Article 9 

MEETINGS 

(A) The first regular SIC meeting of the school year will be held no later than September 30.     

 

(B)  During the first meeting, the SIC will set a regular meeting schedule for the remainder of the school year. The schedule will be posted on the school website, included in the monthly school calendar, and/or otherwise posted in a prominent location in the school. The SIC will strive to schedule regular SIC meetings on days and times that meet the needs and preferences of parents and community members as well as teachers and administrators.       

 

(C)  The SIC will meet monthly during the school year, except that the SIC may choose not to schedule a meeting in December. The SIC Chairperson or Principal may call additional special meetings so long as all Council members are notified of the meeting at least 5 days in advance. The SIC Chairperson, Principal, or committee chairperson may schedule committee meetings as needed so long as reasonable advance notice is provided to all committee members.     

 

(D) All SIC meetings are open to the public and anyone showing an interest in the SIC and its activities will be encouraged to attend. Persons who wish to be placed on the agenda must submit a request to the SIC Chairperson or Principal at least 1 week before the meeting date. The Chairperson will time the agenda to ensure that Council business is properly conducted and that the people scheduled to speak can do so. The Chairperson has the option to schedule a segment of the agenda for open comments from the public as needed and as time permits. 

 
(E)  The principal or his/her designee will be scheduled on the agenda of every regular SIC meeting to share information on school activities, successes, and concerns. Committees will provide reports as scheduled. 

 

Article 10 

SIC DECISION MAKING 

Whenever possible, the SIC will make decisions by consensus. If voting is necessary, a simple majority vote will be sufficient to constitute an action of the SIC. A simple majority of the voting members of the Council will constitute a quorum so long as at least one parent, one teacher, and one student representative are present.    

 

Article 11 

TRAINING 

At the beginning of each school year, the SIC will ensure that members have access to information about their roles and responsibilities as well as information on school and local district policies and procedures. SIC members will be encouraged to attend School Improvement Council training workshops sponsored by the district office and/or the SC School Improvement Council (SC-SIC).   

 

Article 12 

BYLAW AMENDMENTS 

These bylaws may be amended at any regular SIC meeting by a two-thirds vote of those present provided that (1) the amendments were previously introduced at a regularly scheduled meeting held within the last three months, (2) were included in the minutes of that meeting and distributed to all members, and (3) are listed as an agenda item for the current meeting. 

 

 

Date Approved: [Place date here.] 

Date Revised: [Place date here.]