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- Mission Statement
- Highlights of By-Laws
- By-Laws
- Operating Guidelines for Meetings
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Mission Statement
The Chocksett PTO strives to foster positive, partnering relationships among
the Chocksett Middle School students and their families, the Sterling
community, teachers and administrators that are so vital to our children’s
educational success. Through fundraising efforts and sponsorship of family
and school activities, this organization intends to enrich the overall
educational and cultural experience for students at our middle school.
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Highlights of By-Laws
Highlights of By-Laws
• Purpose of Chocksett PTO is to develop, sponsor, and implement
programs and activities designed to:
Promote positive, cooperative relationship between parents,
families, administrators, and teachers
Enrich students’ educational and cultural experience
Provide volunteers, support, services, and funds, as needed
• All parents, teachers, and school staff are members of this
organization. All members have right to attend and participate
in all meetings and activities. May request annual contribution.
• All members present at a meeting can vote, excluding Principal and
Vice-Principal. Members present at a meeting considered a quorum.
• Simple majority affirmative vote required to approve any act, except
2/3 majority vote required for:
Waivers or suspension of any provisions of by-laws
Changes to by-laws or repeal/adoption of new by-laws
Expenditure of over 50% of the organization’s bank account
• Meetings
Regular meetings held third Tuesday each month of school year, with
agenda distributed one week prior to meeting.
Quarterly meetings held for 8 officers of Houghton and Chocksett
schools.
Special meetings may be called by officers.
All members to be notified of regular and special meetings at least
7 days before meetings held.
• Officers of organization:
Two Co-Chairpersons
Secretary
Treasurer
• Elections:
Officers elected annually during June meeting
Nominations at May or June meeting or anytime in between
Voice vote for non-contested election
Written ballot for contested election
Majority of the votes necessary for election
Principal may assign an officer if no nominations for that position
Officers hold office for 1-year term and limited to 2 consecutive
terms in a given office
• Finances:
Budget presented at first regular meeting of fiscal year
Organization will not make any loans.
Fiscal year runs from 9/1 through 8/31
Joint fundraising efforts between Houghton and Chocksett PTOs will
be divided equally between the two groups. Fundraising by an
individual PTO will be retained by that group.
Organization will carry insurance.
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By-Laws
Chocksett Middle School
Parent Teacher Organization
By-Laws
I Name
The name of the organization is the Chocksett Parent Teacher Organization
(PTO) and the organization is located at 40 Boutelle Road, Sterling, MA
01564.
II Purpose
The purpose of the Chocksett PTO is to develop, sponsor, and implement
programs and activities designed to:
• Promote a positive, cooperative relationship among parents,
families, teachers, and administrators.
• Enrich the educational and cultural experience of Sterling middle
school children.
• Provide volunteers, support, services, and funds, as needed.
III Membership
All parents and/or legal guardians of Chocksett Middle School students and
all current faculty and staff of Chocksett Middle School are members of this
organization. All members have the right to attend and participate in all
meetings and activities of this organization. An annual contribution may be
requested for membership.
IV Voting
A. Eligibility: All members present at a meeting are eligible to make
a motion and to vote, excluding the Principal and Vice-Principal of
Chocksett Middle School. In the event of a tie, the article will be tabled
until the next regular meeting, or earlier if a special meeting is scheduled.
B. Quorum: Those members present at a properly called meeting are
designated as a quorum and are entitled to take action on behalf of the
organization.
An affirmative vote of the simple majority of the members present at a
meeting is required to transact business or approve any act, with the
following exceptions. An affirmative vote of two thirds (2/3) of the
members then present is required for the following actions:
• Waivers or suspensions of any provisions of the by-laws
• Amendments or alterations to by-laws or repeal and adoption of new
by-laws. The notice of a meeting at which a by-law change is to be
considered will include the text of the proposed change.
• Approval of any expenditure of over 50% of the organization’s bank
account.
V Meetings
A. Regular Meetings: Regular meetings shall be held on the third Tuesday
of each month during the school year. The agenda will be available one week
prior to each meeting in the Chocksett Middle School office and on the
Chocksett PTO website. Meetings will not be held on the same night or
during the same week as the Houghton Elementary School PTO meetings.
B. Quarterly Meetings: Quarterly meetings will be held between the eight
officers of the Chocksett Middle School and Houghton Elementary School and
Parent Teacher Organizations. The purpose of these meetings will be to
coordinate activities and fund-raising efforts between the two schools.
C. Special Meetings: Special meetings may be called by the officers of
the organization.
D. Notification: All members of the organization must be notified of
regular and special meetings at least seven (7) days before the meetings are
scheduled.
VI Officers
The officers of the organization include two Co-Chairpersons, a Secretary,
and a Treasurer.
A. Duties of the Co-Chairpersons (shared responsibility):
• Preside at all meetings of the organization.
• Sign any documents or contracts that the Chocksett PTO authorized to
be executed.
• In general, oversee all of the activities of the organization.
B. Duties of the Secretary:
• Maintains the organization’s records.
• Attends all meetings of the organization.
• Records, publishes, and distributes meeting minutes.
• Responsible for correspondence as needed.
• Runs elections for the Chocksett PTO and Chocksett SIMCO Advisory
Committee.
C. Duties of the Treasurer:
• Responsible for all funds of the Chocksett PTO, providing receipts
for all monies due and payable to the organization from all sources.
• Deposits such funds into the organization’s bank account for
safekeeping.
• Maintains all financial records of the organization and make them
available to the officers and members for periodic inspection.
• Provides financial statements for members’ review at regularly
scheduled meetings.
• Files appropriate tax and other financial documents in a timely
manner as required by law.
VII Elections
A. Procedure: Election of officers takes place during the June meeting
each year. All members may participate. Nominations may be made at the May
meeting or up to one month prior to the June meeting, and may also come from
the floor during the June meeting. If the election is non-contested, it may
be conducted by voice vote. Contested elections shall be by written
ballot. A majority of the votes cast by the voting members is necessary for
election. If no nominee receives a majority of votes cast, a run-off
between the two (2) nominees who received the largest number of votes will
be held immediately. In the event there are no nominations for a given
office, the Principal may assign a member of the organization to fill an
open officer position.
B. Terms of office: Each officer will hold office for a term of one
(1) year, and is limited to two (2) consecutive terms in a given office.
C. Removal from office: Any officer may be removed from office for just
cause by a vote of two-thirds of the members present at any meeting,
following a hearing.
D. Resignation: Any officer may resign from office by providing a written
resignation to the Secretary of the organization.
E. Vacancies: Any vacancies will be filled by majority vote at the next
regularly scheduled meeting.
VIII Finances
A. Budget: The officers shall present to members at the first regular
meeting of the fiscal year a budget of anticipated revenue and expenses for
the year. This budget shall be used to guide the activities of the
organization during the fiscal year. Any substantial deviation from the
budget must be approved in advance by the membership at a meeting. The
officers may vote to allow the expenditure of up to one hundred dollars for
unanticipated expenses between meetings.
All profits from fundraiser activities and events sponsored by the Chocksett
Middle School PTO will be considered as income to the Chocksett Middle
School PTO budget and may be earmarked, or held in reserve, for a specific
purpose that meets the PTO objectives. With PTO approval, a separate and
distinct collection of non-perishable food, clothing, or other items, may be
conducted as part of a PTO-sponsored activity or event to benefit a
particular charity. There will, however, be no monetary donation made by
the PTO to outside charity organizations and Chocksett Middle School will be
the only beneficiary of PTO fundraising activities and events.
B. Loans: No loans shall be made by the organization.
C. Fiscal Year: The fiscal year runs from September 1st through August
31st.
D. Fundraising: Funds from any joint fundraising conducted between
Houghton Elementary School and Chocksett Middle School Parent Teacher Groups
shall be divided equally between the two groups. Funds from individual
fundraising efforts by either organization shall be retained by that
organization.
E. Insurance: The organization will maintain current insurance
coverage.
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Operating Guidelines for Meetings
Chocksett Middle School PTO
Operating Guidelines for Meetings
• Agendas will be distributed through students' backpacks a week prior
to the monthly meetings to inform members of issues to be discussed, as well
as time and date of the meeting. Copies will also be available in the
Chocksett office.
• Meetings to start promptly at 7:00 p.m. and adjourn by 9:00 p.m., if
possible.
- People wishing to speak will be recognized and given reasonable time
to address the issue at hand.
- One person should speak at a time, while others listen respectfully.
- Discussion will be facilitated by co-chairpersons.
• Everyone’s input matters. The group welcomes new ideas and
participants.
• Voting on all issues will be done by a show of hands.
• Sub-committees will be established as needed and volunteer sign-up
sheets made available to all in attendance.
• The Open Discussion session is available for discussion of PTO
related matters that don’t appear on the agenda. Anyone in attendance is
welcome to speak on relevant issues at this time.
• Summary of monthly meetings will be included in the monthly school
newsletter.
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