ARTICLE 1 Purposes and General Powers Section 2: The Board of Trustees shall be responsible for ensuring that the school is an academic success, that it is a viable organization, and that it is faithful to the terms of its charter, including the effective dissemination of innovative practices. Section 3: The Board of Trustees shall provide the MVPCS school community with the original Charter School Application, proposed amendments, subsequent re-certification applications and annual reports and invite it to participate in the advancement of the school through Board of Trustees membership, Standing Committee and Task Force participation. ARTICLE II Board of Trustees Section 2: The Trustees will ensure that its membership shall have the necessary areas of expertise to operate the school in accordance with its obligations and responsibilities to the State pursuant to the school’s charter and to the school community. Section 3: Nominations of new Trustees to fill vacancies created by expiration of terms shall be made by a nominating committee, known as the Trusteeship Committee. The Trusteeship Committee shall, at the regular Board of Trustees meeting in April, present to the Board for approval a slate of nominees to serve as trustees. The Board-approved slate will be presented to the school community for approval at the Annual Meeting in May. The school community shall receive written notice of the full slate of nominees at least fourteen (14) days prior to the Annual Meeting. Vacancies on the Board of Trustees occurring for reasons other than expiration of term may be filled, upon nomination by the Trusteeship Committee, by consensus of the Board. A Trustee selected to fill the vacancy shall serve the remainder of the term of his/her predecessor in office. The names of approved Trustees shall be submitted forthwith to the State for approval. Section 4: Trustees shall serve a term of three (3) years, or until their successors are seated. Terms shall be staggered. No Trustee shall serve more than two (2) consecutive three-year terms. Fulfilling an incomplete term is not considered part of the term limit. A Trustee who has served to term limit is eligible for re-nomination one year after leaving office. Trustees shall take office on July 1 following the Annual Meeting at which their selection is approved. Section 5: A Trustee may resign at any time by filing a written resignation with the President of the Board. Section 6: The Board may remove any Officer or Trustee for cause by two-thirds (2/3) vote of the entire Board of Trustees at any regular or special meeting of the Board, provided that a statement of the reason or reasons shall have been mailed by Registered Mail to the Officer or Trustee proposed for removal at least thirty (30) days before any final action is taken by the Board. This statement shall be accompanied by a notice of the time when, and the place where, the Board is to take action on the removal. The Officer or Trustee shall be given an opportunity to be heard and the matter considered by the Board at the time and place mentioned in the notice. ARTICLE III Officers Section 1: There shall be four (4) elective Officers of the Board: a President, A Vice President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. a. The responsibilities shall be as follows: i. President: The President shall preside at all meetings of the Board of Trustees at which he/she is present. The President shall have general supervision of the affairs of the Board of Trustees. ii. Vice-President: The Vice President shall assist the President and perform the duties of the President in his/her absence. iii. Secretary: The Secretary shall keep the records of the Board of Trustees and its meetings and shall attend to giving notice of meetings of the Board of Trustees. iv. Treasurer: The Treasurer shall have general charge of the financial matters of the Board of Trustees in accordance with the Finance Policy and the care and custody of its funds and valuable papers. He/she shall have the power to endorse for deposit all notes, checks, drafts, and other obligations payable to the Board of Trustees. He/she shall keep or cause to be kept accurate financial records of all accounts and oversee the annual audit. Section 2: The Trusteeship Committee shall present a slate of Officers to the Board of Trustees. The nominated Officers shall be drawn from among the members of the Board of Trustees. The Officers shall be approved at the July meeting of the Board. Section 3: The newly elected Officers shall take office on July 1, pending Board approval at the July meeting, and pending State approval of Board membership. The term of office shall be one year, or until respective successors assume office. A Trustee may serve more than one (1) term in the same office, but not more than three (3) consecutive terms in the same office. Section 4: In the event that the office of the President becomes vacant, the Vice-President shall become President for the unexpired portion of the term. In the event that the office of Vice-President, Secretary, or Treasurer becomes vacant, the President shall appoint interim Officers to fill such vacant offices until a scheduled meeting of the Board is held. ARTICLE IV Meetings
Section 2: Regular Meetings
Section 3: Special Meetings Special meetings of the Board of Trustees may be called either by the President or at the request of three Trustees in accordance with Open Meeting Law. Section 4: At any regular or special meeting of the Board of Trustees, a majority of the Trustees then in office shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, except where otherwise required by these Bylaws. Section 5: It is the goal of the Board of Trustees to reach decisions by consensus, through collaborative discussion. All Trustees shall be committed to this form of decision-making. If the Board of Trustees fails after diligent effort to reach consensus on any matter about which a decision must be made the matter will be put to a vote. Under this circumstance, a majority of those Trustees present and voting will decide any question of that matter. Section 6: Annual Meeting ARTICLE V School Director and Other Agents Section 2: The Board of Trustees may appoint from time to time such agents as it shall deem necessary, who shall serve, have such authority, and perform such functions as the Board of Trustees determine. Compensation for such agents, if any, will be determined by the Trustees. ARTICLE VI Committees and Task Forces
Section 2: The Board of Trustees shall select the chairpersons for the Standing Committees from among the Trustees at its July meeting, following the approval of officers. The term of office shall be two years. Trustees may serve consecutive terms if reappointed as Trustees. Section 3: The Board of Trustees shall select the chairpersons for the Task Forces from among the Trustees or the school community. The term shall be for the duration of the Task Force or two years, whichever is shorter. Section 4: Committee and Task Force Chairs will present to the Board a list of committee members. Members may include Trustees, Advisors, administrative staff, teachers, parents, students, or other interested persons. Section 5: All regular and special meetings of Standing Committees and Task Forces are subject to the same laws and regulations as the meetings of the full Board (Open Meeting Law), and they are governed by the same procedures. Section 6: There shall be a standing nominating committee, known as the Trusteeship Committee. This committee shall be composed of five (5) to seven (7) persons recommended by the President and Vice President and approved by the Board. It shall be chaired by a member of the Board. Membership shall include a total of at least three Board members and at least two persons from the school community who are not Trustees and whose membership on the committee would not constitute a conflict of interest as defined in the school Conflict of Interest Policy. Section 7: The duties of the Trusteeship Committee shall be:
ARTICLE VII School Community The school community shall be defined as students presently attending and their parents (defined as family units), the faculty, the administration, the Trustees, and the members of the Advisory Board of the MVPCS. A minimum of 33% of the school community must be present to constitute a quorum at the Annual Meeting or other school community meetings. It is the goal of the school community to reach decisions by consensus, through collaborative discussion. If the school community fails after diligent effort to reach consensus on any matter about which a decision must be made at the Annual Meeting, the matter will be put to a vote. Under this circumstance, two-thirds of those present and voting will decide any question of that matter, according the following voting procedure: Individual Trustees, Advisory Board members, and all employees have one vote. Family units shall have one vote, which can be split into two parts of 1/2 vote each. In addition to the Annual Meeting, the school community may convene to make policy recommendations to the Board of Trustees. All recommendations made by the school community that are consistent with the representations in the Charter may be ratified by the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees shall have final responsibility and authority to act or to decide not to act with respect to any recommendation made by the school community. ARTICLE VIII Fiscal Year ARTICLE IX Indemnification The MV Public Charter School shall indemnify its Directors, Officers, employees, and volunteers to the fullest extent permitted by the law of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. ARTICLE XI Amendments These Bylaws may be amended at a regular meeting of the Board of Trustees, provided any proposed amendment has been read and discussed at a minimum of two prior regular meetings. |