Title: PA/PTA Nominations and Elections
1PA/PTA Nominations and Elections
- Nominations and Elections
- Nominations Process
- Responsibilities of the Nominating Committee
- Ceased to Function
- Expedited Elections
- Alternate Process for Identifying CEC Selectors
- Reporting Requirements
-
2Introduction
- In order to provide ongoing support and
professional development to the Regional Parent
Teams, Supervisors of Parent Support, Parent
Support Officers and in turn the school based
parent coordinators, the Office of Parent
Engagement (OPE) has developed an All About
series of presentations about a number of
pertinent topics related to Chancellors
Regulation A-660 (CR A-660), Parent Associations
and the Schools. - This topic in the series is an overview of Parent
Association/Parent-Teacher Associations (PA/PTA)
nominations and elections the expedited election
process the responsibilities of the nominating
committee steps to reactivate a PA that has
ceased to function and reporting requirements.
In addition, this presentation also highlights a
related topic the alternate method for
selecting Community or Citywide Education Council
(CEC or CCEC) selectors in the event that the
schools PA has ceased to function. - As always. it is the expectation of OPCE that
Regional/District Parent staff will use these
presentations as a framework for developing
workshops for parent coordinators, parents and
other members of the school community.
3Overview
- Introduction.Page 2
- Overview.Page 3
- Guidance Documents..
Page 4 - How CR A-660 Revisions Will Impact Spring
Elections?...Pages 5 - 6 - Nominations ProcessPage
7 - No Nominating Committee, No Problem
.Page 8 - Nominating Committee Responsibilities
..Page 9 - Eligibility............
.Page 10 - Meeting Notices...Page
11 - Campaign Limitations, Use of School
Facilities.....Page 12 - Preparing for the Election
Pages 13 - 14 - Nominating Committee Will Need
..Page 15 - Troubleshooting Spring PA Elections.
............Page 16 - Ballots..Page 17
- Ceased to Function..
Page 18 - Expedited PA Nominations and Elections
...Page 19 - Alternate Methods for Selecting CDEC, CCSE and
CCHS Selectors.Page 20 - PA Officers Names, Home Addresses and Telephone
NumbersPage 21 - Quiz.Pages 22 24
4Guidance Documents
- PA/PTA Bylaws with latest amendments
- Chancellors Regulation A-660 (CR A-660)
- Note PA/PTA bylaws must conform to Chancellors
Regulation A-660. A PA/PTA must have duly
adopted bylaws in order to conduct any PA/PTA
business, including elections.
5How Revisions to CR A-660 Will Impact PA
Elections?
- All parents, legally appointed guardians and
persons in parental relation to children
attending a school are now automatically members
of the schools PA. - PAs can no longer include language in their
bylaws that require qualifications for any PA
office. - PA bylaws must include language that allows one
vote per member. - If PAs opt to elect Co-Presidents they must
appear on the ballot as a team. - Please note that when PA/PTAs opt to elect
Co-Presidents, they must include language in
their bylaws - regarding the selection of the designated
Co-President that will serve as the SLT core
member the - representative to the districts or regions
Presidents Council and/or the CDEC selector. CR
A-655 - requires that the remaining members of the
Executive Board determine the core member of the
SLT.
6How Revisions to CR A-660 Will Impact PA
Elections?
- The principal must be notified by the PA of the
date and time of the election two weeks before
the second Wednesday (April 28th) of May in each
school year. - PA elections must be completed between Monday,
May 24th Friday, June 11th. - PAs must develop an alternate process for
selecting volunteers to conduct the nominations
and election process, in the absence of a
nominating committee.
7Nominations Process
- The nominations process should be clearly defined
in the PA/PTAs bylaws. - When bylaws require that a Nominating Committee
be formed, language must be included which
explains how the Committee is established and
outlines Committee responsibilities. The
majority of the members of the Nominating
Committee must be selected from the general
membership. - Persons employed in the school may not serve on
the Nominating Committee. - In the absence of any bylaws requirement to form
a Nominating Committee, the bylaws must clearly
define a process for conducting PA nominations
and elections.
8No Nominating Committee, No Problem
- In the event that a PA cannot form a nominating
committee, OPE has provided sample - language in the bylaws template (page 6) that
outlines two alternate processes for - conducting PA nominations and elections
- The executive board must communicate that the
nominations and election process outlined above
will proceed under the direction of at least two
members of the association who are not running
for office. - These members will be selected to serve in this
role by vote of the general membership at the
March general membership meeting. They will
perform the responsibilities and adhere to the
timeframe outlined in this section of the bylaws.
They may also seek assistance in conducting
nominations and the election from the appropriate
region/district presidents council and/or the
principal or his/her designee and/or the district
or regional superintendent or his/her designee. - or
- If at least two members of the association who
are not running for office are not/can not be
identified to conduct the nominations and
election process - or
- an expedited nominations and election process as
outlined in Chancellors Regulation A-660 will be
conducted by the appropriate region/district
presidents council and/or the district or
regional superintendent or his/her representative
by no later than the second Friday in June.
9Nominating Committee Responsibilities
- The Nominating Committee is responsible for
conducting the nominations and election - process, this will include
- canvassing the membership for all eligible
candidates - determining and verifying the eligibility of all
interested candidates - preparing and distributing notices (all notices
should include a distribution date) - conducting all meetings that pertain to the
nominations and election process - officially closing all nominations
- notifying Principal of the date and time of the
election two week before the second Wednesday in
May (April 28th) - 7. preparing ballots
- 8. ensuring that only eligible
members receive a ballot for voting - 9. completing election by June 11th
- 10. assisting with the tallying of
election results - 11. reporting the results and ensuring
that the election is certified by the Principal
or his/her designee - 12. retaining ballots for six months or
until a grievance has been determined, which
ever period is longer
10Eligibility
- PA bylaws may not contain qualifications for
holding PA office. - Members of the same family may not be prohibited
from serving as officers, however, they may not
serve as dual signatories. (See Section I.K.3.
for fiscal restrictions.) - The following members are not eligible to serve
as an elected officer of the PA - Community and Citywide District Education Council
member(s) from the same district with a child in
the school - staff member employed in the school (i.e.,
teacher, Parent Coordinator) - These references are found in Chancellors
Regulation A-660
11Meeting Notices
- Written notices soliciting recommendations must
be widely distributed to the membership. - Notices should be translated in the languages
spoken by parents in the school. - Notices must be distributed to membership at
least 10 calendar days before a meeting. - Notices should indicate the PA officer vacancies
and briefly describe the roles and
responsibilities - Notices should include the distribution date.
12Campaign Limitations, Use of Facilities and
Information Distribution
- No school facilities or supplies may be used on
behalf of or in support of any candidate or of
candidates. The following activities are
prohibited (CR A-130) - use of school equipment or supplies to reproduce
or distribute campaign materials (flyers,
announcements, biographies, etc.) - posting or distribution of campaign materials on
school premises
13Preparing for the Election
- Following the official close of nominations
- Prepare and distribute reminder notices which
include the names of candidates listed
alphabetically by surname under each office(s)
for which they were nominated. - Reminder notices should include date of
distribution and must provide at least a 10
calendar day notice to membership. - Notice should also indicate location of the
election and time for voting (i.e., Voting will
take place in the auditorium from 600p.m. -
800p.m.)
14Preparing for Election, continued
- Prepare ballot box (must be secured by Nominating
Committee prior to the election) - Prepare ballots - include instructions for
voting. - Determine voter eligibility and distribute
ballots. (voter eligibility is usually determined
by student class roster) - Meeting notice shall inform members if candidates
will make statements prior to the election.
(candidate statements average one to two minutes) - When voting period ends, request volunteers from
audience (excluding any candidates) to assist
members of the Nominating Committee with the
official count and reporting of results. -
- Note Contents of box should be verified
15The Nominating Committee Will Need
- Two sign-in sheets (one for attendance, one for
eligible voters/ballot distribution) and a ballot
box - A school staff member to access student class
rosters to determine voter eligibility prior to
ballot distribution. - A black board or an easel and newsprint to
officially record the count in the presence of
the voting members, immediately following the
election. - Volunteers from the audience to assist with the
count and review of ballots after the voting has
been officially closed. - A safe place, on school premises, to secure
original copies of all election documentation
(attendance sheets, notices, ballots, official
tally sheet, etc.). - To ensure that the election is certified by
principal or his/her designee.
16Troubleshooting Spring PA/PTA Elections
- Troubleshooting Spring PA/PTA Elections
- PA/PTA bylaws often require the nominations
process to begin in February or March.
Nominations are usually taken from the floor and
then officially closed during the April meeting.
If there are PA/PTAs in the district or region
that have not begun this process, written
notification should be sent to the Principal or
PA/PTA by the Supervisor for Parent Support to
determine reasons for the delay and/or the
possible need for intervention and technical
assistance by the Parent Regional Team and the
District/Region Presidents Council..
17Ballots
- Written ballots are required when more than one
candidate is nominated for any office (contested
election). - All candidates must be listed on ballots in
alphabetical order, by surname, under each office
for which they were nominated. To the extent
possible, ballots should contain instructions in
the language(s) spoken by parents in the school. - In uncontested elections no ballots are needed.
Members may vote by show of hands or by
acclamation to accept the slate of incoming
officers.
18Ceased to Function
- Parent Associations/Parent-Teacher Associations
cease to function when - They fail to conduct the business of their
organization in accordance with CR A-660 and
their bylaws. - They fail to hold their spring election by June
30th. (Principal must convene parents for the
purpose of holding an expedited election by
October 15th). - Vacancies occur in the mandatory officer
positions of President, Secretary and Treasurer
(PA/PTA bylaws must contain language that
describes a special election process or a process
for filling these vacancies by succession).
19Expedited PA Nominations and Election
- If a PA/PTA has ceased to function for failure to
conduct spring election, the Principal shall be
responsible for activating the PA/PTA by October
15th. An expedited nominations and election
process shall be used with the following minimum
requirements - The Principal shall request the assistance of the
Regional and/or District Superintendent's office
and the appropriate Presidents Council to help
conduct the meeting. - The Principal is responsible for distributing a
notice to convene the meeting (with a minimum of
ten calendar days notice to parents) at which
time nominations of eligible candidates shall be
requested and then officially closed. Elections
will be held immediately following the close of
nominations. - In the event that PA vacancies occur in the
mandatory officer positions of President,
Secretary and Treasurer, the PA must fill these
vacancies through succession of by a special
expedited election process.
20Alternate Methods for Selection of CDEC, CCSE or
CCHS Selectors
- If a school does not have a functioning PA in
place sixty (60) days before - the date set for a vote to select the members of
the CDEC, CCSE or CCHS, - the parent members of the School Leadership Team
(SLT) will serve as - the selectors.
- If more than three parent members wish to serve
as selectors, three parents will be selected
through a random drawing to serve as selectors
for that school. The Regional Parent Supervisor
will conduct the drawing. - If there is no functioning SLT, or the SLT does
not have three parent members to serve as the
schools selectors, the Regional Parent
Supervisor and a member of the District/Region
Presidents Council will contact parents from a
randomly ordered, computer generated list until
three parents have been identified. Parents will
be called in the order that their names appear on
the list.
21PA Officers Names, Home Addresses and Telephone
Numbers
- The PA must maintain in their files a list of
officers names with home addresses and telephone
numbers. A copy of this list must be on file
with the Principal. - The Principal must send the list to the
appropriate Superintendent. - The Regional Superintendent must forward a copy
of the list to the Office of Parent Engagement by
June 30th.
22PA/PTA Nominations/Election Quiz
- 1. PA/PTAs are required to have a set of bylaws
that prescribes how and when elections will be
conducted. - 2. PAs can post flyers in their school to support
PA officer candidates. - 3. PA/PTA President is responsible for conducting
the election. - 4. If the PA cannot form a Nominating Committee,
they cannot hold PA elections.
- True False
- True False
- True False
- True False
23PA/PTA Nominations/Election Quiz
- 5. PAs can hold PA elections without bylaws.
- 6. PAs can adopt bylaws that do not conform with
CR A-660. - 7. In order to vote in a PA/PTA election, you
must be a parent, guardian or person in parental
relation to a child or children currently
attending the school. -
- True False
- True False
- True False
24PA/PTA Nominations/Election Quiz
- 8. Members who do not pay membership dues will
not be eligible to vote or run for office. - 9. If there is no PA in place, the parents cannot
participate as CDEC, CCSE or CCHE selectors. - 10. The PA/PTA may seek assistance in conducting
an election from the appropriate Presidents
Council.
- True False
- True False
- True False
25Resources
- Regional/District Presidents Council
- Regional Parent Support Team
- Office of Parent Engagement
26Additional All About CR A-660 Topics
- Additional All About Topics will include
- Presidents Councils
- Bylaws
- Disciplinary Action
- Corrective Action
- Grievances
-
27Inquiries
- Additional inquiries regarding this and other
All About presentations - may be addressed to
- Office of Parent Engagement
- New York City Department of Education
- 49-51 Chambers Street
- (212) 374-2323