These guidelines govern the operation of the Newcastle Elementary PTSA and are approved annually by the General Membership. Supplemental to the Washington State PTA Bylaws, these Standing Rules were approved on September 14, 2022.
Section 1: The name of this unit shall be Newcastle Elementary PTSA 2.6.18
Section 2: This unit is a non-profit corporation recognized by the State of Washington on April 8, 2004. It is the responsibility of the Treasurer to annually renew the Articles of Incorporation by filing a “Non-Profit Corporation Annual Report” prior to March 30th each year. The Washington State PTA is the registered agent for this corporation.
Section 3: The unit’s Employer Identification Number (EIN) is on file in the Legal Documents Notebook.
Section 4: The IRS recognized this unit as a tax-exempt charitable organization on August 17, 2004 under Section 501 (c) (3). The Treasurer shall file a form 990 Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, if required, as well as a State Charitable Solicitations Renewal form by November 15 of each year.
Section 5: The Secretary shall keep the legal notebook current and maintain one extra copy, kept in the school PTSA office.
Section 1: General Membership meetings of this unit shall be as the Board decides. There shall be at least three meetings during the year. Notification of date, time, place, and purpose of meeting will be given to membership a minimum of 10 days in advance. Notice can be given by calendar announcement, digital communication, school signage, paper communication or any combination of these. The quorum for general membership shall be 10 voting members. Voting members are defined as current paid PTSA Members of the Newcastle PTSA for the purposes of General Membership Meetings, and Board Members at Board Meetings.
Section 2: The budget shall be drafted by a Budget Committee chaired by the Treasurer. The budget will then be presented to the Executive Committee for approval. Final approval of the budget will be by vote of the General Membership. This vote shall take place at the last general meeting of the school year (for the following year’s budget) or at the first general meeting of the school year. The approved budget must include adequate reserves to cover the minimum membership fee to remain a PTSA in good standing, allotments which become available when the budget passes, and annual fees for legal filings and organizational insurance.
Section 3: The standing rules shall be adopted annually by a majority vote by the General Membership and may be amended at any General Membership meeting by two-thirds vote.
Section 1: Newcastle Elementary PTSA is a member of the Issaquah PTSA Council, WA State PTA and National PTA. Membership service fees are due each year and are determined on an annual basis through the Washington State PTA Office.
Section 2: The membership fee of this unit shall not exceed $30. Memberships can be for a Family (2 Adults), Individual, Teacher/Staff Member, Community Member, or Corporate Member. Community memberships will be honorary memberships of this unit without voice, vote, or privilege of holding office. Corporate memberships will be honorary memberships of this unit without voice, vote, or privilege of holding office.
Section 1: The Executive Committee of this unit shall be the President, VP of Ways and Means, VP of Programs, VP of Outreach, VP of Volunteers, Secretary, Treasurer and an optional Officer-At-Large. The Officer-At-Large position must be filled by an officer who served on the Executive Committee the previous school year. These officers will be elected by the General Membership by June 30th and assume office on July 1st. The term of office shall be one year, and no longer than two consecutive years. All Executive Committee members must be members of the Newcastle Elementary PTSA. Executive Committee positions can be shared by two people and each person will have a vote. In the case of Co-Presidents, the presiding President has only a tie-breaking vote. All Executive Committee Members are required to attend at least one (1) WSPTA training session or WSPTA Convention during their elected term.
Section 2: The Executive Board shall be comprised of the President, Treasurer, Secretary and any VPs of Volunteers, VPs of Ways and Means, VPs of Outreach, VPs of Programs
Section 3: An office shall be declared vacant if the person misses three (3) meetings unless excused by the President, according to WSPTA Bylaws.
Section 4: The quorum for Executive Board Meetings will be a majority (50% + 1). Executive Board votes may be conducted via email following the guidelines set forth by the Washington State PTA. Email votes must be ratified at the next Board meeting.
Section 5: The Nominating Committee shall be elected by General Membership in accordance with WSPTA Bylaws. Members of the Nominating Committee shall not serve more than two consecutive years. The Nominating Committee will assist in identifying candidates for the Executive Committee positions.
Section 6: The voting delegate(s) to the Issaquah PTSA Council shall be appointed by the President.
Section 7: The vote of this unit for the Washington State PTA Area Vice President shall be by Presidential action.
Section 8: The voting delegates to the Annual State PTA Convention shall be appointed by the President.
Section 9: The voting delegates to the Legislative Assembly shall be appointed by the President.
Section 10: In the event that there is no president on the Nominating Committee slate, then the first Vice President is president by default, and will take on all functions of the role. Vice President order is determined by historical order in which the role became a position of the Organization: VP Ways and Means (2004), VP Programs (2008), VP Outreach (2008), VP Volunteers (2011).
Section 1: The Executive Committee shall include the following positions: President, Vice President of Ways and Means, Vice President of Programs, Vice President of Outreach, Vice President of Volunteers, Secretary, Treasurer, and an optional Officer At Large.
Section 2: The Standing Committees shall be: Communications Director, Website/E-Communications Representative, Advocacy Chair, Membership Chair, Auction Chair, and Issaquah Schools Foundation (ISF) Ambassador.
Section 3: The Chairpersons of the Standing Committees and Ad Hoc Committees shall be appointed by the Executive Committee. All Committee Chairpersons must be members of the Newcastle Elementary PTSA. The chairperson of both standing and ad hoc committees will have a term of one year. At the end of two consecutive years, the chair position will be opened to the general membership. If there is no interest from the general membership, the previous chair may serve an additional year.
Section 4: The Board of Director positions will receive one vote only. In the event of more than one officer, the vote will be equally divided.
Section 5: The Students of Newcastle Elementary School shall be considered honorary members of this unit without voice, vote, or privilege of holding office.
Section 6: All contracts must be signed by two members of the Executive Committee, according to WSPTA Bylaws, with one of these members being the PTSA President.
Section 7: Information contained in directories, newsletters, or membership lists published by Newcastle Elementary PTSA may not be used for purposes of solicitation either commercial, political, ideological or any other purpose not consistent with the WSPTA Bylaws.
Section 8: Golden Acorn Awards shall be presented annually to outstanding volunteer(s). Additionally, the Outstanding Advocate and Outstanding Educator awards can be presented annually as deemed appropriate.
Section 9: Committee Chairpersons must bring any budget line adjustment requests to the Executive Committee for approval. The Board may not approve any budget adjustment which will decrease the organization’s reserves but may reallocate line-item adjustments and increased income. Any funding requests that fall under PTSA Funded Programs can be presented to and voted on by either the Board or General Membership. Fund allocations over $1,000.00 shall also be approved by the General Membership.
