Hartford High School Student Council Constitution

(Last Amended in May 2009)

ARTICLE I NAME The name of this organization shall be the Hartford High School Student Council. ARTICLE II PURPOSE The purpose of this organization shall be: 1. To work for the overall welfare and improvement of the school 2. To promote improved relationships between the student body and faculty/administration 3. To promote improved relationships between the school and the community ARTICLE III MEMBERSHIP The Councils membership shall include: 1. Up to five Representatives from each class 2. Class officers from each class: President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer 3. Executive Board members: two Moderators who are seniors, three Representatives who are juniors/sophomores, and the Council Secretary and Treasurer 4. The Council Advisor appointed by the principal 5. A Class Advisor for each class chosen by the Council Advisor 6. The Board may offer membership to students who have contributed regularly to Council activities throughout the year. ARTICLE IV RESPONSIBILITIES Council members shall have the following responsibilities: 1. All Council members shall: a. Attend Council meetings and participate in Council committees and activities b. Attend class meetings and participate in class activities c. Keep a record of Council participation in order to verify good standing 2. Class officers shall have the following responsibilities: a. The President (or Vice-President if the President is absent) shall: - set the time, place and date for class meetings and contact all parties - create the agenda and preside over class meetings - report on class actions and decisions at Council meetings. b. The Secretary shall: - record attendance at all class meetings for submission to the Council Secretary - record and file all minutes of class meetings for submission to the Council Secretary - maintain all class records to be kept by the Class Faculty Advisor - conduct and file all class correspondence c. The Treasurer shall:
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- conduct all financial transactions of the class - report the financial status of the class at class meetings when requested - make estimates of expected revenues and expenditures 3. Executive Board members shall: a. Attend Board meetings b. Be jointly responsible for carrying out the purposes of the Council c. Serve as the primary link between the faculty/administration and the Council d. Select recipients of awards presented by the Council 4. Executive Board moderators shall: a. Set the agenda and preside at Council meetings, but can rotate this duty with other Board members 5. The Council Secretary shall: a. Record and file attendance at all regular meetings of the Council b. Record and file all minutes of Board and Council meetings c. Maintain all records of the Council d. Conduct and file all Council correspondence e. Publicize Council actions and decisions concerning the student body 6. The Council Treasurer shall: a. Conduct all financial transactions of the Council b. Report the financial status of the Council at Council meetings when requested c. Make estimates of expected revenues and expenditures 7. The Council Faculty Advisor shall: a. Attend Council and Board meetings b. Assist Moderators in setting the Council agenda c. Facilitate Board and faculty/administration communications d. Oversee Council committees and Council sponsored activities e. Select and assist class faculty advisors as needed 8. Class Faculty Advisors shall: a. Attend regularly held class meetings. b. Facilitate communications between class officers and faculty/administration or community members (i.e. sophomores: class rings, juniors: prom, seniors: class trip) c. Encourage and facilitate class fundraising activities. ARTICLE V MEETINGS Council members will participate in the following meetings: 1. The Board will meet at least bi-weekly to discuss matters of immediate concern and prepare agendas for Council meetings. 2. Council meetings will be held bi-weekly at the times designated by the Board. Special meetings may be called by the Board should there be concerns. All Council meetings will be open to attendance by interested and concerned members of the student body and faculty/administration. 3. Ad hoc or standing committees shall be formed at Council meetings. Committees will consist of no more than twelve members plus a chairperson. When the committee is formed, a chairperson will be
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selected and the time, place and date of the first committee meeting shall be set. At the first meeting, a schedule for future meetings will be decided and a secretary shall be picked. - The chairperson shall be responsible for taking attendance and for reporting on committee actions and decisions at Council meetings. - The secretary shall be responsible for recording all minutes of committee meetings for submission to the Council secretary. - Committee members shall inform the chairperson if they cannot attend a meeting. If a committee member should be absent from two committee meetings without contacting the chairperson prior to the meeting with a reasonable excuse, that member will be removed from the committee. ARTICLE VI REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT OF COUNCIL MEMBERS Council members can be removed for the following reasons: 1. Attendance Being absent from a Council/Board meeting without contacting the Council Secretary or the Council Advisor with a valid reason will cause an unexcused absence to be entered upon a Council member's attendance record. A valid reason must be provided within one week of the absence. Any member who receives three unexcused absences during a school year will be issued an attendance warning from the Council Advisor. Any Council member reaches five unexcused absences shall be removed from Council. Being more than five minutes late to a Council meeting will cause a tardy to be entered upon the Council members attendance record. Two tardy notices equals one unexcused absence. 2. Good Standing Council members remain in good standing by participating in Council committees and activities, and class meetings and activities. During each Council meeting, members will record any Council and class participation accomplished since the previous meeting. These participation records will be reviewed periodically during Board meetings. Any Council member significantly lacking in participation will be issued a good standing warning from a Council advisor. Any Council member who receives two good standing warnings shall be removed from Council. The process for replacing/appointing Council members shall be: 1. In case of the resignation or removal of a Council Representative or Board member from office for any reason, the Board shall appoint a responsible student to fill the vacancy. 2. In the case of the resignation or removal of a class President from office for any reason, the class Vice-President shall become President and will appoint a responsible member of that class to fill the vacant office. The Board must approve the appointment. 3. In the case of the resignation or removal of a class Vice-President, Secretary or Treasurer from office for any reason, the President of that class shall appoint a responsible member of that class to fill the vacancy. The Board must approve the appointment. 4. In the case of not enough candidates to fill Board positions, the Board may appoint Council members who have served for at least one year with good standing to fill the empty positions.
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ARTICLE VII ACTIVITIES 1. The Council will consult and coordinate its activities with the advice and consent of the Faculty Advisor and the administration. 2. The Council will have overall charge of the elections for Executive Board, Council Secretary and Treasurer, Council Representatives, and all class officers. The above duties include supervision of the nomination process, preparation of ballots, checklist supervision, tally of election results, and announcement of elected candidates. 3. The Council shall have charge of any activities for the benefit and welfare of the school or community as approved by the administration, but may delegate these responsibilities to other organized clubs and/or classes upon approval of the group concerned and the administration. ARTICLE VIII NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS l. Nominations a. A candidate running for Council for the first time, or who was previously removed/resigned from Council, must complete the following requirements in order to be considered a qualified candidate. i: Present twenty-five signatures from students and teachers. At least five signatures must be from faculty/staff from Hartford or home school district. ii. Provide one teacher recommendation using the Student Council Candidate Recommendation Form. iii. Write a 250-word essay on one change that should be made at the school. Students already on the Council, or appointed to the Council by the Board, or who were defeated in a previous election, do not need to complete these requirements in order to run for re-election. b. Candidates for Board, and Council Secretary and Treasurer must have completed at least one full year in the Council with good standing. Candidates for Council Moderator must be juniors. Candidates for Board representative must be freshmen or sophomores. c. All nomination papers must be made available to prospective candidates at least ten school days before the election. All completed nomination papers shall be in the possession of a Council faculty advisor at a said date prior to the day of the election. This date shall be at least five school days prior to the election. Draft ballots shall be posted for student viewing at least three school days before the election. Candidates who file completed nomination papers late will be considered qualified write-in candidates, but will not appear on the ballot. 2. Elections a. Board and Council elections will be held in May on a date to be decided by the Board and administration. b. Elections for Council representatives and class officers for the incoming freshman class will be held at a date in the fall as designated by the Board in consultation with the administration. c. All campaigning materials (i.e. posters, T-shirts, handouts, etc.) must receive prior approval from the Board. Failure to obtain prior approval may be used as grounds for disqualification of a candidate if the Board determines that the campaign materials are inappropriate in any way.
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d. Voting in these elections shall be by secret ballot. Only votes for qualified candidates, as defined above, shall be counted. e. Seniors shall be responsible for tallying of votes: i. The two senior candidates for the Board and the three underclassman candidates with the most votes shall be declared elected. ii. The respective candidates for Council Secretary and for Treasurer with the most votes will be declared elected. iii. The five candidates with the most votes for Council Representative in each class will be declared elected. iv. In the event of a tie between candidates which cannot be resolved by recount and the resolution of which would result in one or more of the candidates not being elected, a special run-off election will be arranged by the Board which will involve only those candidates whose vote tallies are tied. f. The newly elected Board, Council Secretary and Treasurer, Council Representatives and class officers shall be sworn into office during the June Awards Assembly. They will assume their duties at that time. ARTICLE IX MOTIONS AND VOTING A quorum for Council meetings will be declared only if there are no less than sixteen elected members of the Council present. Those present shall include at least one member from each class and a Board member. The presiding Board member determines if there is a quorum. A quorum must exist before a meeting can be called to order, motions made or votes counted. 1. Motions for Council consideration must be made only by Council members. 2. Only designated members of the Council may vote on any motions before the Council for consideration. The Board member who is presiding over the meeting may not vote in motions. 3. Members of the student body and faculty may voice their concerns and participate in discussion of pending motions and other business before the Council, but may not offer motions, amendments, nor participate in any resulting Council votes. 4 A simple majority of Council members present at a Council shall be necessary for passage of any vote counted. 5. The principal shall have the veto power over all matters involving the Council. ARTICLE X AMENDMENT To amend this constitution, a three-quarter majority vote of the Council members shall be necessary.

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