Article I

Purpose and Mission of the Sandburg Elementary School Site Council

Authority.  The Sandburg Elementary School Site Council is established pursuant to the direction of the State of California Education Code and the San Diego Unified School District.  For the purpose of these bylaws this School Site Council shall be referred to as the SSC or Council, and persons holding elected or appointed seats on the Council shall be called members or representatives.

Goal.  Through their mutual involvement and cooperation the teachers, administrators, staff, parents, and the local community at Sandburg Elementary are committed to providing an optimal learning environment which encourages, challenges and develops our students to reach their highest personal potential.  The SSC is dedicated to providing guidance and taking action in areas that are critical to the creation of a high-performing physical, intellectual, psychological and social environment.

To accomplish this goal the SSC will endeavor to ensure that funding available to the school is applied to those programs and activities that generate the greatest improvement in student achievement within the constraints of that funding.

Role.  The Council shall carry out all duties and responsibilities assigned to it through the Education Code of the State of California.  The Council shall maintain compliance with the San Diego Unified School District requirements for review, implementation, and budgetary oversight by the SSC of any student achievement plan so designated by the District.  The SSC shall conduct other budgetary oversight as may be required of the Council by the District to secure, allocate, or monitor the expenditure of categorical funds and ensure compliance with laws and regulations governing their use.

Definitions.  The following terms are defined for the purpose of these bylaws:

COMMITTEES: Groups of stakeholders or of members of the school community assembled to address issues

CONSENSUS:  General agreement of Council members or concerned stakeholders who have had reasonable opportunity to influence the decision on an issue before the SSC.

SCHOOL COMMUNITY:  Members of the Sandburg Elementary School community, including teachers, parents, guardians, staff members, partners, or other interested parties

STAKEHOLDERS:  Groups, or members of groups, who represent a portion of the student population at Sandburg Elementary School, or who represent an employee group of the San Diego Unified School District

 Article II

Structure of the School Site Council

Size and Composition.  The SSC shall be made up of representatives elected from their respective constituencies (i.e. teachers elect teacher representatives, parents elect parent representatives, classified staff elect classified representatives (fifty percent of the council membership shall consist of parents or guardians of a student currently attending Sandburg Elementary School or other interested local community members selected by parents.  The remaining fifty percent of the SSC shall consist of employees currently working at the Sandburg campus with the majority of these members being classroom teachers.  No parent stakeholder may be employed by the district.

The principal, or their administrative representative designee appointed to attend in their absence, shall be an on-going, voting members of the Council Membership in the SSC is not transferable or assignable except for the assignment of the Principal’s stand-in representative designee.

Selection of Council Members.  Selection of voting SSC representatives shall be by secret ballot election.  Nominations for candidates may be made by peer group or by self-nomination.  Each Sandburg household shall be eligible to cast one vote for each open parent stakeholder seat.  Sandburg households are deemed to be any household in which a Sandburg attending student’s parent or guardian principally resides.

If practical, elections shall be staggered to require a maximum of, and nearest approximation to, one half of the certificated/non-certificated stakeholders’ seats and one half of the parent stakeholder’s seats to be subject to election in one year.  A suitable election schedule shall be established to ensure the election of new members prior to the end of the school year in June.

Terms of Service.  The normal term of office shall be two years for each elected SSC representative.  A council member’s term of service shall begin with the first SSC meeting of the school year, generally in September.

Termination of Membership.  Any members who resigns or becomes ineligible for continued membership shall notify the Chair in writing, as soon as possible.  A Council representative shall be disqualified and no longer hold membership should they cease to meet the membership requirements under which they were elected and that seat shall vacate upon voted resolution of the Council.

Each SSC members shall make a good faith attempt to attend all scheduled meetings of the Council.  Any member who fails to attend any two meetings during one school year without good cause and prior notification may be terminated from the membership position by action of the Council.  A member shall be automatically terminated, on the basis of non-attendance, for failure to attend any three consecutive SSC meetings.

Vacancies.  Any vacancy created by the departure of an elected Council representative shall be noted in the minute and that vacancy filled for the remainder of the school year through appointment by a vote of the SSC at a monthly meeting.  If the unexpired term is for another full year thereafter, the term for that year shall be filled through the regular selection process in a special election.  In any case, the candidate must be drawn from and represent the stakeholder category of the SSC member who has departed.

 Article III

Operating Procedures of the School Site Council

General Procedures.  All meetings of the SSC shall be open to the public at all times and shall be conducted in accordance with the Open Meeting Laws of the State of California and with Roberts’ Rules of Order, unless otherwise specified in these bylaws.

The SSC welcomes the input and participation of all members of the school community, including other established organization which contribute to the well being of the students at Sandburg.  Issues or concerns may be brought to the Council by any elected representative on their own behalf or on behalf of any school community member.

Council Officers.  At the first SSC meeting of the school year, a Chairperson, a Recorder, a District Advisory Council Representative and Alternate Representative, and such other officers as the Council may deem desirable will be elected from the Council members present by a simple majority of votes.  Each officer shall serve for the duration of that school year.

Any officer may be removed by a two-thirds vote of all council members whenever, in the judgment of the Council, the best interest of the SSC would be served thereby.  A vacancy in any office shall be filled for the unexpired portion of its term, by Council vote in a special election, at the earliest opportunity.

Duties and Responsibilities.  Officer and Council member duties and responsibilities shall include, but not limited to the following:

The Chair shall preside over meetings; ensure compliances with these bylaws; assure preparation and posting of the agenda; maintain oversight of the subcommittees’ topics and schedules; sign official communications and documentation of the SSC.

The Recorder shall record and prepare minutes as an official record; submit minute to requesting school community members; record SSC approved corrections to the minutes; ensure all official notices are duly given a per these bylaws.

The District Advisory Council Representative shall attend the monthly DAC meetings as a representative of Sandburg and present an information report to the SSC at the next Council meeting.

The Principal shall provide guidance, input, and information to the Council based on experience and knowledge of District protocols.

The Council members shall attend SSC meetings with a commitment to cooperating to improve the educational environment at Sandburg.

Meetings.  Regularly scheduled meetings shall be held monthly during the school year.  The regular meeting time for the following school year shall be confirmed by the SSC at its last meeting of the prior school year.  A meeting shall be scheduled to occur in each of the 10 calendar months the school is in session; however, meetings can be canceled for those months when the Chairperson and the Principal agree they are not needed.  The SSC shall ordinarily have a minimum of 8 meetings during the school year.

Special meetings may be called by the Chair or by a majority vote of the Council.  Written notice of the scheduling details of a special meeting must be delivered either personally or by mail to each SSC member not less than 72 hours prior to the date of such meeting unless a member has waived their right to be so notified.

Public notice shall be given of regularly scheduled and special SSC meetings at least 72 hours in advance of that meeting.  Such required notices shall state, in writing, the date, time, and location of the meeting.  All special meetings and any change in the established date, time, or location of regular meetings shall be published by prominent posting on school grounds.

Meetings shall be held in a facility provided by the school and should be readily accessible by all members of the public, including disabled persons.

Quorum.  A quorum is defined as the presence of representatives holding at least 51 percent of the non-vacant Council seats.  A quorum of members must be present to start a formal SSC meeting or to continue to transact the business of the school Site Council.

The Chair may cancel the meeting if a quorum has not convened within 15 minutes of the designated starting time of the meeting, or, if the members present so wish, an informal advisory meeting may be held.  Advisory meeting minutes may be generated by all decisions, assignments, and votes shall be delayed until a quorum is present.  If a decision is time sensitive a special meeting will be called.  In the case that a special presentation to the SSC has been scheduled. The Council members present may receive the information to present at a future meeting of the SSC.

Agenda.  The Chairperson, the Principal or their administrative designee, shall collaboratively prepare the agenda for regular meetings, at least 7 days prior to the next scheduled SSC meeting.  The Chair may prioritize items to be placed on the agenda.  However, if due to lack of space on the agenda, the Chair does not place a requested item on the next available agenda, the Chair shall report on the pending status of that item at the next meeting.

Agenda items for future consideration may be suggested at the end of each meeting or at least 10 days prior to the next scheduled meeting for consideration at that meeting.  In addition, any member of the school community may submit an item to the Chair using forms available at the campus office.

The agenda shall be posted on the school grounds at least 72 hours prior to the scheduled SSC meeting.

Voting.  Only elected or duly appointed representatives of the SSC shall be authorized to vote on SSC matters brought to the Council. Each member shall be entitled to one vote and may cast that vote on each matter submitted to a vote of the Council.  No absentee ballot voting or proxies shall be allowed.

All Council decisions shall be reached, where possible, by consensus and shall be considered approved by such.  If consensus cannot be reached, a voice vote indicating yeas, nays, and abstentions shall be conducted by the Chair.

Unless otherwise specified elsewhere in these bylaws, all decisions of the SSC may be made and approved by an affirmative vote by a simple majority of the attending members, provided a quorum exists.  Any Council member may call for a voice vote or secret ballot to approve Council actions or decisions.

Recording of Actions.  The Recorder will compile notes during all formal SSC meetings for the purpose of creating an official record of Council activities including topics discussed, decisions made, actions taken, membership attendance and voting records.  These minutes are to be prepared in a summary format and are not intended to be a verbatim transcript of the meeting.  In addition, any actions taken by the SSC shall likewise be recorded as consecutively numbered resolutions and shall be part of the permanent record of the SSC.

The pending minutes shall be reviewed by the Recorder, the Chair, and the Principal or their designee, prior to the next Council meeting, in preparation for submission for approval by the membership.

The minutes shall be publicly posted on the school grounds concurrently with the following month’s agenda and the Recorder shall promptly transmit to each of the members, to the school district, and to such persons as the Council may desire, true and correct copies of the minutes of such meetings.  Copies of the minutes shall be made available to anyone upon submission of a written request to the Chair.

Amendment of the Adopted SSC Bylaws.  These bylaws shall be amended upon both a recommending vote by a majority of the Council members and by subsequent ratification of proposed bylaw amendments by the school community.  Ratification and amendment are accomplished by an affirmative vote by a simple majority of the school community choosing to participate in such  voting.  The school community ratification vote may occur through a written ballot distributed to each Sandburg household with a child in attendance, or it may occur at a noticed general meeting of the school community.  A monthly SSC meting may be used as the noticed general meeting forum at which to conduct the vote.  In either case, the proposed text changes to the bylaws must be made available for review in public posting at the school site or otherwise published or distributed to the school community in written form.

SSC Administrative Policies and Procedures.  In support of these bylaws, the SSC may establish administrative policies and procedures that provide information about carrying out the provisions of these bylaws.  Any policy and procedure may be adopted or amended by simple majority vote to the SSC at a Council meeting.  The school community shall be informed of the creating of, or any amendment to, such policies and procedures by a notice publicly posted at the school site.

Committees, the SSC may, from time to time, establish and abolish such standing or special advisory committees as it may deem desirable.  The Council may set the guidelines for the constituency and operation of these committees and each committee shall adopt rules for its own governance not inconsistent with the bylaws or rules adopted by the SSC.  No standing or special committee may exercise the authority of the School Site Council.