By_laws

Constitution and Bylaws of
The North Carolina Public School
Maintenance Association

(Revised September 2005)

ARTICLE I

Name

The name of this organization shall be the North Carolina Public School Maintenance Association. This organization is a professional organization and is not to be misconstrued as a labor union in any sense of the word.

ARTICLE II

Purposes

The purposes of this association shall be:

(1) To bring together at intervals those who are interested in the betterment of public school maintenance in North Carolina.

(2) To incorporate higher standards in the operation and maintenance of school buildings and grounds.

(3) To aid in securing and maintaining professional improvements for the betterment of its members.

(4) To cooperate with the Parent-Teachers Organizations and other educational and civic bodies having educational objectives and to aid in conveying to the public the needs, problems, functions, and progress of public school maintenance.

ARTICLE III

Membership

SECTION 1.

All regular maintenance employees and retired maintenance employees, who were members at the time of their retirement, of the various city, county and state public schools, and institutions of the community college system interested in the betterment of public school maintenance and paying the dues for active members are provided in the bylaws, are eligible for active membership in this organization.

SECTION 2.

Interested citizens, upon payment of dues herein provided, may become associate members of the organization. They shall have the privilege of attending meetings and participating in discussions, but shall not have the privilege of voting.

SECTION 3.

Lifetime membership will be awarded to a person/member of NCPSMA approved by a 2/3-majority vote of members during the regular meeting of the Advisory Council prior to the annual Convention/Workshop. Life memberships will consist of the following: No annual renewal dues for life, full voting rights with any and all eligibilities of an active member.

Life members will be nominated/eligible under the following restrictions:

a. Past NCPSMA State President and retired from employment of the various city, county and state public schools LEA or institution of the community college system.

b. The Maintenance Supervisor who is the recipient of the prestigious award of Maintenance Supervisor of the Year given during the banquet of our fall NCPSMA Convention Workshop. The Maintenance Employee who is the recipient of the prestigious award of Maintenance Employee of the Year given during the banquet of our fall NCPSMA Convention Workshop.

c. An active NCPSMA member in good standing nominated by the NCPSMA president for his/her willingness to:
    1. Bring together those interested in the betterment of public school maintenance in North Carolina
    2. Incorporate high standards in the operation/maintenance of school buildings and grounds
    3. Aid in securing and maintaining professional improvements for the betterment of its members
    4. Cooperate with any and all groups, educational and civic, having educational objectives and to aid with public needs, problems, functions, and progress of public school maintenance and
    5. Have given many years of dedicated service

The NCPSMA State President will be limited to only one nominee per year, realizing that there may not be a deserving dedicated nominee each year. The NCPSMA President shall use this privilege with much discretion for this prestigious honor.

ARTICLE IV

Districts of NCPSMA

SECTION 1.

The NCPSMA shall be comprised of eight districts according to the N.C. Educational Division for districts.

SECTION 2.

a. The general officers of each district shall be: a president, a vice-president, a secretary/treasurer, a news coordinator, and two advisory council representatives.
b. All districts shall elect officers at the first meeting following the NCPSMA annual fall meeting, beginning after the fall of 1989.

Each district shall meet two times a year on the following schedule:

District I - *January and July; District II - *January and July; District III - *February and August; District IV February and *October; District V - *March and September; District VI - April and *October; District VII - May and *November; District VIII - March and *November (Officer election months denoted by *)

Any two districts that have a meeting in the same months should correspond with the executive director so there would not be two meetings on the same night.

c. Terms of officers: All officers shall take office immediately after elections and shall serve until their successors have been elected. In case of a vacancy, the president shall appoint a successor until the next election meeting month. If the office of president becomes vacant, then the vice-president assumes the responsibilities and duties of the president and a new vice-president will be appointed.
No officer will serve more than three consecutive elected terms.

SECTION 3 Duties of District Officers

a. President:
    1. Sets date in the proper month for meetings, or call all special meetings.
    2. Presides at all meetings of the district.
    3. Recommends needs and improvements and promotes the implementing of the decisions of the district.
    4. Assumes responsibility of co-ordination of each district meeting (date, time, place, program) with the executive director and the NCPSMA president.
    5. Appoints working committees in his district as the need may arise and serves as a member of each committee.
    6. Whenever possible, the president should represent his district at the annual fall meeting of the NCPSMA.

b. Vice-President
    1. Assumes all duties of the president in case of absence or resignation of the president.
    2. Assumes all duties of membership chairman for his district.
    3. Serve on the Executive Board of the Jay Palmer Scholarship Fund (JPSF) and carry out duties there in the JPSF Bylaws.

c. Secretary -Treasurer
    1. Keeps records and minutes of all meetings and attends to all correspondence within the district.
    2. Must, within 30 days of each meeting, mail a copy of the minutes and treasurer's report to the executive director.
    3. Must, within 30 days, mail to the executive director and state secretary, a full list of names, addresses, and phone numbers of newly elected officers.

d. News Coordinator:
    1. Is responsible for gathering and sending to the executive director news and pictures with names from each LEA in his district on a regular basis. (At least one time per month)

e. Two advisory council representatives for each of the eight districts.

    1. One representative shall have an overlapping term of one year so that one member will have one year's experience with a two-year newly elected member.

Example: After a one-year term and a two year term has been elected, the next year only one two-year term representative will be elected because the previous two-year elected representative still has one year left to serve. Only in the event of two vacancies in a certain year should two representatives ever be elected to a district in the election month.

ARTICLE V

General Officers, Advisory Council, and District Officers

SECTION 1.

The general officers of the association shall be a president, a vice-president, a secretary, and a liaison officer. Their terms of office shall be for one year. The officers shall be elected by a majority vote of those present at the association's annual meeting.

SECTION 2.

The advisory council of the association shall be composed of:

a. All general officers of the association (four), presidents of each district (eight), two district representatives from each district (sixteen), immediate past president (one), four manufacturers representatives, for a total of 33 voting members.

b. District members (in addition to the president of each district) of the advisory council shall be elected in accordance with Article IV, Section 3e. Four manufacturers representatives having voting privileges for advisory council meetings only must be associate members in good standing appointed by the president for a term of one year.

SECTION 3.

In the event that the president of a particular district is unable to attend an advisory council meeting, then and only then will the vice-president or secretary-treasurer, in that order, assume the single voting right of that particular district president.

ARTICLE VI

Duties of General Officers and Advisory Council

SECTION 1.

a. All officers shall take office immediately after election and shall serve until their successors have been elected. In case of a vacancy, the advisory council shall appoint a member to fill the unexpired term, except for the office of president. In the event the presidency is vacated, the vice-president will assume the responsibilities and duties of the presidency and a new vice-president will be appointed by the advisory council. No officer except the liaison officer may serve more than three consecutive terms.

b. The president shall set date for, or call, all meetings of the advisory council. He shall preside at all meetings of the advisory council and the association. He shall recommend needs and improvements and shall promote the implementing of the decisions of the council and/or association. He shall serve as an ex officio member of all committees.

C The vice-president shall assume all duties of the president in case of absence or resignation of the president. He shall also be membership chairman and promote membership in the association.

d. The secretary shall keep a record (minutes) of all meetings of the advisory council and the association and attend to all correspondence. A copy of all minutes (advisory council and/or association) shall be mailed by the secretary to each member of the advisory council no later than 30 days following such meeting.

e. The liaison officer shall promote good will; secure cooperation between the association, the state departments and officials, and the superintendents of the school units in the best interests of the association.

f. The General Officers shall serve as directors of the corporation.

SECTION 2.

a. The advisory council shall have the authority for the conducting of all business, which shall arise between regular meetings and shall make recommendations to be acted upon by the members and to fill vacancies as provided in Section 1.

b. No member of the council may be elected as district delegate to more than five consecutive terms.

SECTION 3.

The president, vice-president, shall approve travel expense forms or a committee appointed by the president. No one approves their own forms. Receipts shall accompany expense forms.

ARTICLE VII

Appointed Officers and Their Duties

SECTION 1.

North Carolina Public School Maintenance Association Executive Director

A. Duties of Executive Director

    1. Be available to assist the association president and all districts presidents in the establishing and the conducting of association or district meetings.
    2. Attend all meetings and be ready at any time to give impromptu but accurate reports of the existing status of the activities relative to the association and the monthly publication.
    3. Perform all work necessary for the gathering of news items, selling of advertising space in the monthly publication, contacting superintendents and others for their ideas, keeping up to date and accurate records of all subscriptions and advertisements, informing association members of duties expected of them and performing any and all other duties necessary to produce a good publication.
    4. Maintain a morgue containing all pictures or new items of the North Carolina Public School Maintenance Association with cross-reference labels for future use (which should be kept to date).
    5. Maintain records of all transactions, subscriptions, advertisements, memberships, potential advertiser list, disbursements and other records necessary to all posting up to date and see that all proper bills are paid on time; answer all required correspondence promptly.
    6. Inform the executive committee or other appropriate committees of any irregularities, which cannot be completely dealt with at this level or of any incident, which these committees should in informed.
    7. Shall collect and record all association membership dues and/or other funds.
    8. Disburse all such funds upon the authority of the advisory council.
    9. Be continuously bonded in a minimum amount of $50,000 cost of such bond to be paid from the association treasury.
    10. Provide quarterly reports to the finance committee prior to the regularly scheduled advisory council meeting.
    11. Build and/or maintain the best possible reputation for the North Carolina Public School Maintenance Association

B. The President has complete authority over the executive director. The executive director will be required to work harmoniously with any committee, which the president or advisory council may see fit to appoint.
C. All salaries paid shall be set up on a bank draft status: all expenses paid shall be reviewed by a committee appointed by the president; all receipts shall accompany expense reports.
D. The North Carolina Public School Maintenance Association's fiscal year will run from July 1 to June 30; a CPA audit or any other method of reviewing financial records as determined by the president will be done After each fiscal year with a report to be presented at the general assembly at the annual fall meeting.
E. Relative to advertisers in the monthly publication, the executive director shall send one notice to advertisers 30 days before the ad renewal is due; one reminder will be sent at renewal date; at that time when payment is 30 days past due ad shall be dropped: this will allow sixty days from the first notice until an account is dropped
F. The executive director shall serve as the registered agents of the corporation and shall notify the Secretary of State of any required changes

SECTION 2.

Appointed officers will be appointed by the majority vote of the advisory council. These appointments shall be made at any scheduled meeting and shall be for an indefinite period. Termination of appointments may be made by resignation or by the majority vote of advisory council.

ARTICLE VIII

Standing Committees

SECTION 1

a. The finance committee will consists of a chairman and two other members with all members being appointed by the President of NCPSMA. Terms of office will be for a period of one year. Members may be appointed for additional terms.

b. The finance committee will be responsible to the advisory council for keeping an up-to-date account of the status of the financial condition of the NCPSMA. A quarterly financial statement will be prepared on all activities of the NCPSMA.

SECTION 2.

a. The executive committee will consist of a chairman and four other members with all members being appointed by the president of the NCPSMA. The chairman of the executive committee will be the immediate past president. Terms of office will be for a period of one year. Members may be appointed for additional terms.

b. The executive committee will be responsible to the advisory council for the management of all its assigned activities.

SECTION 3.

a. The Finance and Executive Committees shall have a recording Secretary. The recording Secretary will be a member of the committee. The recording Secretary will record all events of each meeting. These minutes will be maintained in a 3-ring binder for future meetings. The recording Secretary will also send copies of each meeting minutes to the State President and State Secretary and these minutes will be recorded with the Advisory Council and General Assembly Minutes for record and future reference.

ARTICLE IX

Committees

The committees of the association shall be those recommended by the advisory council and those deemed necessary by the president. All committees shall be appointed by the president, subject to the approval of the advisory council.
Members of all committees shall enter upon their duties immediately upon their appointments.
Any and all committees of the NCPSMA shall have a recording secretary. The recording Secretary will be a member of the committee. The recording Secretary will record all events of each meeting. These minutes will be maintained in a 3-ring binder for future meetings. The recording Secretary will also send copies of each meeting minutes to the State President and State Secretary and these minutes will be recorded with the Advisory Council and General Assembly Minutes for record and future reference.

ARTICLE X

Jay Palmer Scholarship Fund (JPSF)

The NCPSMA is to support and work hand in hand with the JPSF to help with the educational scholarship of NCPSMA members and families as stated in JPSF Constitution and the Bylaws by the approval of the Advisory Council.

ARTICLE XI

Dues

The amount of dues is to be determined by the advisory council and approved by majority vote of association. All dues are due on or before July 1 of each year. If dues are not received within 30 days thereafter, the name of the member shall be removed from the active mailing list

ARTICLE XII

Quorum

SECTION 1. Regular Meetings

A quorum for all regular and district meetings of the association shall constitute all those members present.

SECTION 2. Special Meetings

If the advisory council certifies that sufficient notice has been given to all members about a special meeting, then a 2/3-majority vote of membership present constitutes a quorum.

ARTICLE XIII

Amendments

Any amendment to these Bylaws shall be proposed in writing to the association secretary, approved by a 2/3 majority vote of advisory council, and adopted by a 2/3 majority vote of those present at a regular association meeting.