THE LI-MING CHINESE ACADEMY PARENTS ASSOCIATION BY-LAWS

 

  1. Name:  The full name of the Association shall be ˇ§The Parents Association of the Li-Ming Chinese Academyˇ¨, otherwise known as the Li-Ming Parents Association or LMPA, hereafter referred to as ˇ§the Associationˇ¨.
  2. Purpose:  The Association shall:
    1. Carry out activities mutually beneficial to the students, parents and teachers of the Li-Ming Chinese Academy (hereafter referred to as ˇ§the Academyˇ¨);
    2. Serve as a communication channel between the parents and the Academy; and,
    3. Provide financial and/or logistic support to the Academy according to needs.
  3. Principles:  The Association shall operate on the basis of the following principles:
    1. The Association is a non-profit, non-religious, and non-partisan organization;
    2. The Association shall have financial and administrative autonomy apart from the Academy.  It will, nevertheless, cooperate closely with the Academy;
    3. The Association shall not interfere with the administrative, financial and academic matters of the Academy;
    4. In the event of the dissolution of the Association, its net assets shall be distributed according to stipulations of Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3) for non-profit organizations.
  4. Membership: Membership in the Association shall comprise of parents and guardians of the students of the Academy.  Each family must pay a membership fee to become a member.  Academy staff who are non-parents must also pay the membership fee to become a member.
  5. Organization: 
    1. General Assembly.

                               i.   The General Assembly shall comprise of all members of the Association and is the highest authority of the Association.

                              ii.   The General Assembly shall meet once a year.

                             iii.   Special ad-hoc meetings can be convened by the Executive Board based on operational needs or upon signatories of at least 20% of the membership.

                             iv.   The General Assembly meeting shall be convened and chaired by the Executive Board.  The meeting announcement must be distributed to all members one week in advance. 

                              v.   The Executive Board can decide to replace a General Assembly meeting with voting-by-mail, according to circumstances.

                             vi.   Ballots for voting-by-mail must be sent out two weeks prior to the deadline.

                            vii.   Each family has one vote.

                           viii.   For any voting to be considered valid, a quorum of 20 percent of the membership must be present at a meeting or have returned the ballots.

                             ix.   A simple majority vote of greater than fifty percent shall be required of all decisions of the General Assembly, except for amendments to the by-laws. 

    1. Executive Board: The Executive Board is the execution body of the Association, responsible for day-to-day operations and performing duties given by the General Assembly.  Individual members of the Executive Board will have functions as specified below.

                               i.   President:  The President shall chair the General Assembly meeting and Executive Board meeting.  The President shall oversee all activities of the Association and is accountable to the General Assembly.  The President shall delegate, coordinate and oversee all functions of the Executive Board to ensure successful accomplishment of Board duties through teamwork.

                              ii.   Vice President:  The Vice President shall support the President in all activities.  The Vice President shall act for the President when the President is unable to do so.

                             iii.   Secretary:  The Secretary shall record the minutes of meetings and handle all documentation and communication duties.

                             iv.   Treasurer: The Treasurer shall handle all capital and assets, maintain accurate accounting of income and expenditures, prepare budgets and financial reports.

                              v.   Board Members: The Board Members shall implement activities of the Associations.  The number of board members will depend on the workload.

                             vi.   The first Executive Board shall be elected at the first meeting of the General Assembly. The number of members for the subsequent Board shall be decided by the prior Board which will convene an election either through a meeting or through voting-by-mail.

                            vii.   Any General Assembly member can self-nominate or be nominated as a candidate for the Executive Board. 

                           viii.   Nominated candidates shall be elected to the Executive Board according to the number of votes in descending order until all agreed slots are filled.

                             ix.   Following the election, the hand over of the Executive Board shall take place in July of the same year.

                              x.   The positions of the president, vice president and treasurer shall be filled and decided by the elected Board members. Unexpected vacancies shall be filled by the remaining Board members.

                             xi.   The term of the Board member shall be one year or until such time a new Board member is elected.  A Board member can serve more than one term but shall not hold the same position for more than one year.

                            xii.   When unexpected vacancies occur or in the event of work overload, the Board can hold elections for additional Board members.  The election process shall be the same as for existing Board members and the term of the new person shall end when the term of the outgoing Board members would have ended.

                           xiii.   A Board member can be terminated by a simple majority vote of the General Assembly. 

                           xiv.   The past president, vice president, secretary and treasurer shall remain as advisory board members for one year.

                            xv.   General financial and administrative matter of the Board shall be decided by a simple majority vote of the Board members.

                           xvi.   Activities outside of the Academy shall be decided with the participation of the Academy Principal or designated representative in the decision meeting, and a two-third majority vote of the Board members or of the General Assembly members present at the meeting.

  1. Funding:
    1. The amount of membership fee shall be decided by the incoming Executive Board for the following school year, according to the needs of the Association.  Membership fees shall be collected at the beginning of the school year.
    2. A General Assembly memberˇ¦s voting right is contingent upon the payment of the membership fee on time. 
    3. Based on the financial situation of the Association, the Board can decide to support partially or in full the funding request of the Academy.
    4. The Association shall strive to remain free of debt.  The amount of the debt incurred shall not exceed the assets of the Association, when circumstances require such an action to support the operation of the Association.
  2. Amendments: The current by-laws was drafted by the Preparatory Committee of the Interim Executive Board and ratified by a simple majority vote at the first General Assembly meeting.  Any amendments to the current by-laws shall require a simple majority vote of the entire General Assembly.
  3. Addendum:  Amendments to the by-laws shall follow Robertˇ¦s Rules of Order Newly Revised.  During implementation, any Articles of the current by-laws shall be declared ineffective if it conflicts with the regulations of the Academy, the regulations of the host school, or any other relevant laws and regulations.