The Oakwood Student Council Constitution
Preamble
The students of Oakwood School
hereby establish this constitution in order to ensure the effectiveness of
student government. The Student Council
comprises the Events Committee, which is intended to supervise school based and
endorsed events, and the Policy Committee, which is intended to suggest
policies for the school at large and act on them.
Article I: Composition
The Student Council shall be composed of two equal representative bodies: the Events Committee and the Policy Committee.
A.
The
members of the Events Committee shall be the President, Vice President,
Treasurer, Secretary, and one Representative from each grade.
B.
The
members of the Policy Committee shall be the President, Vice President,
Secretary, and one Representative from each grade.
C.
Each
committee shall have a faculty sponsor.
The responsibilities of the student
government members are as follows:
A.
Events
Officers
1.
The
President shall preside over meetings of the Events Committee, preside over
Town Meetings with the Policy President, and organize social events throughout
the year. All final responsibility for
events lies with the President.
2.
The
Vice President assumes the responsibilities of the President in his or her
absence and shares those responsibilities while the President is present. The Vice President shall council and support
the President.
3.
The
Treasurer shall oversee the financial matters of student government and keep an
organized account of the council’s expenditures.
4.
The
Secretary shall properly record the minutes of all council meetings and post
them for public viewing. The Secretary
shall also record all votes taken by the council.
B.
Policy
Officers
1.
The
President shall preside over meetings of the Policy committee, preside over
Town Meetings with the Events President, and help represent the students and
student council to the faculty, staff, and administration.
2.
The
Vice President assumes the responsibilities of the President in his or her absence
and shares those responsibilities while the President is present. The Vice President shall council and support
the President.
3.
The
Secretary shall properly record the minutes of all council meetings and post
them for public viewing. The Secretary
shall also record all votes taken by the council.
C.
Grade
Representatives
1.
Grade
Representative (hereafter referred to as Grade Reps) shall preside over their
respective Grade Meetings.
2.
The
Grade Reps shall represent their grades to the best of their ability, but are
allowed (and encouraged) to express their personal opinions as well.
D. All
Members
1.
All
members of the Student Council are required to attend all student council
events.
2.
All
members of the Student Council are expected to maintain a level of order, Excessively
disorderly conduct may result in impeachment.
3.
No
member of the Student Council may spend Student Council funds without prior
approval of a simple majority of both their council and either the President or
Faculty Sponsor of the other council. Recurring expenses can be approved by the
member’s council for one entire semester by a simple majority, in which case
the only approval of the Faculty
Sponsors or Presidents of both councils are required during that semester.
4.
No
member of the Student Council may represent (or claim to represent) the student
council without prior approval
Article III:
Procedure
The procedure for
committee meetings is as follows:
A.
Voting
1.
All
members have one vote.
2.
A
motion must be made and seconded by another member who did not propose it
before a vote can be taken.
3.
A
quorum (two-thirds of the members on a given council) must be present before a
vote is taken
4.
Only
elected student members may vote (**Note**are there non-elected members?**)
5.
All
motions excepting impeachment may be resolved by a simple majority.
6.
All
proposals which have an equal number of votes must be argued until they are
resolved.
7.
Motions
may be made to change the topic of discussion, which is ordinarily outlined by
the President.
B.
Impeachment
1.
A
member shall be considered for impeachment if the constitution is breached by
him or her.
2.
When
a member of the council is being considered for the impeachment, they must
leave the room while the arguments against them are presented. When the plaintiffs have finished, the
member may return whereupon they shall be informed by the Secretary of the main
points of the arguments presented against them. They shall be allowed to present their defense, and must leave
the room again prior to the final vote.
3.
A
two-thirds majority is required to impeach any member of student council. Note:
This is a two-thirds majority of the entire council, not merely
two-thirds of the members present. In
other words, if a quorum is present (6 voting members,) all six must vote to
impeach the member on trial, which makes the question of how the other three
members would vote moot. If fewer than
six members support an impeachment, the member on trial is not impeached. Furthermore, bear in mind that a quorum
during an impeachment is really seven members, since the member being impeached
cannot vote.
4.
If
a member of a grade appears before the student council with legitimate concerns
about the efficacy of a member of student council, a petition will be given to
the student, and if twenty signatures are presented, an impeachment trial will
begin. The President presides, unless
the President is being impeached, in which case the Vice President presides.
Article IV:
Elections
The procedure for
elections is as follows:
1.
All
elections are conducted using secret ballots.
2.
Students
may only vote for one candidate for each position.
3.
In
the elections of Officers, every student in the school may vote – once and only
once.
4.
In
the elections of Grade Reps, every student in the relevant grade may vote once
and only once.
5.
Any
number of students may run for a given position, however, a student must hold
at least 40% of the votes in any election with three or more candidates. If no candidate holds 40% of the vote, the
two candidates with the largest percentage of votes will become the only
candidates in a subsequent run-off.
6.
All
students intending to run for an elected position on either council must first
obtain the signature of their Dean or the Principal certifying their record is
free of standing academic or behavioral probations that would prevent them from
devoting their full energies to the council.
7.
Once
adequate permission has been obtained, potential candidates must submit a
Statement of intent to a current student council member on the applicable
council. The statement should contain the following:
-The candidate’s name
-The candidate’s current grade
-The position the candidate wishes to run for
-A brief paragraph outlining their reasons and
qualifications for running.
8.
If
only one candidate is running for a given position, the election ballot must
contain an “against box” allowing the voters to vote against the candidate
running. If “against” votes exceed the
candidate’s votes, another election will be held.
9.
In
elections where foul play (e.g. ballot stuffing) is suspected, a new election
will be held.
10.
In
the event that repeated elections do not result in a candidate being chosen,
the acting student council is at liberty to decide how to handle the situation.
11.
At
least one Officer of the Student Council must be present at any given election
in order to ensure the validity of the voting procedure and to count the votes.
12.
In
order to run for the office of the President or Vice President for either
committee, the candidate must have at least a year of experience on the committee
in which they wish to serve, and must currently be in High School (grades
9-12).
13.
In
order to run for any officer position other than President or Vice President,
the candidate must be going into a High School Grade (9-12) for the year in
which they wish to serve.
14.
In
order to run for the positions of President, Vice President, Treasurer, or
Secretary of Events, the candidate must hold a valid driver’s license.
15.
Once
elected, a new member of the student council shall take office at the beginning
of the next year, unless the position they have been elected to has been
vacated by a departing senior, in which case they may take office immediately.
Article V:
Amendments
The procedure for
amending the constitution is as follows:
1.
A
motion must be made and seconded to amend the constitution. Once the motion is on the floor, a
two-thirds majority is required to pass the amendment (**Note** two-thirds of a
quorum or two-thirds of the entire council?**)
Article VI:
Advisors
The procedure concerning
the election and removal of faculty advisors is as follows:
1.
If
either committee finds itself without an advisor or the current advisor
retires, a vote must be taken to decide whom the committee should request to
fill the position. A simple majority
will decide the issue (**Note** again, quorum or no?**)
2.
Either
committee may impeach their advisor if a two-thirds majority exists. The principle may also remove the advisor
(**Note** with or without the council’s permission?**)
Article VII:
Funds
The procedure concerning
the expenditure of funds is as follows:
1.
The
expenditure of funds must be approved by the committee spending them and the
President of the other committee (**Note** we should take a look at this, since
we began to discuss it last year**).
The faculty advisors and the Treasurer are charged with managing the
Student Council’s funds, and only they are authorized to sign checks.
Jimmy’s
notes by Article IV: Dean
Sign: Pol: - 0
Probation: 5 - 7
Statement of intent: All in favor
In favor
Petition:
3 - 10