PTA Constitution
Mission Statement
The mission of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is to advance the education, health and social gain of all the pupils of the school by providing and assisting in the provision of supports, facilities and a child friendly environment supportive of such advancement.
1. Title
The association shall be called the ‘Parent Teacher Association’.
(In the remainder of this document, the terms ‘PTA’ and ‘The School’ or ‘T.E.T.N.S, shall mean the above named Association and Tullamore Educate Together National School respectively.) Committee
2. Objectives
The objective of the PTA Committee shall be to —
a. Provide a forum through which parents/guardians of children in the school can discuss matters affecting the education and social development/involvement of their children.
b. To liaise, if necessary, with other PTA Committees in the community or county on matters to improve the standard of education at primary level.
c. Liaise with the Board of Management of the school and the school’s staff on matters of mutual interest.
d. Assist the school through the provision of suitable education equipment, support of extra curricular activities, improvement of facilities etc., as agreed with the Board of Management.
e. Organise fundraising events for the school
f. Provide input into school policies
g. Represent the parents of our school
h. Support the Principal and staff in the pursuance of school aims
i. To meet with the Student Council on matters of mutual interest
j. To enhance and develop the sense of school community whilst upholding and promoting the ethos of the school
It is not the role of the PTA Committee to influence additions to or changes to the school curriculum.
3. Membership
There shall be three types of members —
i. Elected Members
a. There shall be a minimum of four (4) elected members and a maximum of twelve (12) elected members to the PTA Committee.
b. To be eligible for election, a person must be a parent/guardian of a child at the school, be proposed and seconded by other parents/guardians of children at the school and be elected at a general meeting of parents convened for the purpose.
c. Elected members shall serve for a period of one year or until the next AGM, whichever is the sooner.
d. Elected members shall be eligible for re-election for up to four (4) consecutive years.
e. Membership shall be terminated by —
› Member resigns by written statement to the committee
› Conduct deemed grossly at odds with the aims and objectives of the PTA.
ii. Ex-Officio Members
a. The School Principal
b. One (1) teacher representative.
c. A minimum of one (1) parent/guardian elected to the board of management to represent the parents on that body. Board of Management representative(s) shall serve for the duration of their term on the board (normally four (4) years). In the event of any of these members ceasing to be members of the Board of Management during this term, they shall also cease to be members of the PTA Committee from the same date but shall be eligible for election or co-opting subsequently. They shall be replaced on the PTA Committee by their successor(s) on the Board of Management.
iii. Co-Opted Members
a. Should vacancies occur during the term of office on the PTA Committee, it shall have powers to co-opt parents/guardians of children in the school to fill such vacancies in order to maintain the minimum required membership.
b. Co-opted members must be agreed by all PTA Committee members and cannot hold an officer role.
c. The PTA Committee may also co-opt up to two (2) extra members, both of whom must be parents/guardians of children in the school, where it feels that the special expertise of such people may be of benefit to the Association.
d. Co-opted members shall serve until the end of the term of office of the PTA Committee to which they have been co-opted and shall be eligible for re-election.
iv. General Members
a. All parents are members of the PTA
4. Officers
The officers of the PTA Committee shall consist of —
i. Chairperson
ii. Secretary
iii. Treasurer
The PTA Committee, at the first meeting of its term, shall elect all officers for the term of the PTA Committee. Officers will not receive payment for these roles. Any officer shall serve no more than two (2) consecutive years in the same position.
5. Voting Rights
a. All officers and elected members and co-opt members of the PTA Committee shall have one vote each at all meetings of the Association.
b. Board of Management representatives, the Principal and the teacher representative do not have a vote at meetings of the Association (as they were not proposed and seconded by parents/guardians at the open meeting).
c. In addition to his/her vote, the Chairperson shall have a casting vote where there is a tie on any vote at any meeting of the Association.
6. Ordinary Meetings
a. As soon as possible after its election to office, the PTA Committee shall meet to elect its officers.
b. Thereafter, the PTA Committee should meet twice termly at least
c. The quorum for any meeting shall be four (4) members, one of whom will be an officer and a teacher representative.
d. In addition, other sub-committees may be set up from time to time, as the PTA Committee deems necessary for the furtherance of the aims of the PTA.
e. These sub-committees will feedback to the PTA Committee.
f. Parents who wish to have a topic discussed at an Association meeting can do so by submitting the matter in writing to the Chairperson early enough to have it placed on the agenda to be raised at the next meeting.
g. In special circumstances, a parent who is not a member of the Committee may be invited to speak directly to a meeting of the Committee members. He/she would attend the meeting while the particular concern was being discussed.
7. Special Meeting
a. A special meeting may be called if five (5) or more members request it in writing to the Secretary stating the purpose.
b. The Secretary shall issue a notice of such a meeting in the same way as for an ordinary meeting.
c. The only item on the agenda shall be the reason stated in the requisition.
8. Annual General Meeting
a. The PTA shall hold its AGM during the months of September/October each year.
b. Notice of the AGM shall be issued to all parents at least one (1) week in advance.
c. The new Committee will take office on the day after the AGM. The out-going officers and delegates will act in these capacities until the new officers and delegates are elected at the first meeting of the PTA Committee.
d. At the AGM —
i. The Chairperson will give a review of the PTAs work during its term of office.
ii. The Secretary shall report on matters affecting his/her office.
iii. The Treasurer shall present a statement of account and a balance sheet.
iv. The election of the new members shall be held.
v. Notices of motions from parents shall be submitted in writing in advance to the Secretary at least one week in advance.
vi. Changes in the Constitution may only be proposed at an AGM by way of notice of motion and must have a two-thirds majority of those present and voting to proceed to a focus group for consideration.
vii. An agreed focus group shall review the constitution after the first year and every two years thereafter. It will also review any changes voted for at the AGM.
9. Extraordinary General Meeting
An EGM may be called by: –
a. The PTA Committee.
b. Written requisition to the Secretary signed by at least 10% of the parents/guardians of the children in the school and stating the reason for the EGM.
c. Written request to the Board of Management, stating the reason for the request.
The conditions applying to the calling of a special meeting, paragraph 7a and 7b above, will apply to these meetings except that all parents/guardians in the school shall be notified.
10. Duties of the Chairperson
a. The Chairperson will chair all meetings of the PTA. An agenda will be drawn up by the Chairperson and given to the secretary for distribution to all members prior to the meeting.
b. In the absence of the Chairperson, he/she shall designate the Secretary or the Treasurer to chair the meeting.
c. The Chairperson will be responsible for the Committee and the Association as a whole and for the running of meetings and AGMs. He/she will interact as appropriate with other interested parties and oversee the organisation of finances and ensure financial controls are maintained.
d. In any questions of interpretation of these rules, the decision of the Chairperson shall be final and binding.
11. Duties of the Secretary
a. The Secretary will be responsible for all the correspondence of the PTA Committee.
b. He/she will —
i. Ensure notices are issued for all meetings. Seven (7) days’ notice of a meeting should be given to all members and an agenda distributed no later than three (3) days prior to a meeting.
ii. Take and produce minutes of all meetings.
iii. Maintain all documents belonging to the Association safely and hand over same to his/her successor.
12. Duties of the Treasurer
a. The Treasurer shall be responsible for all the financial affairs of the PTA.
b. He/she shall collect all monies due to the Association and thus present them to the school.
c. He/she shall keep an account of all transactions and be able to present a financial account situation to each meeting.
d. Prior to the AGM, the Treasurer shall draw up a statement of account and a balance sheet and present these to the AGM for adoption.
e. All monies are the property of the Board of Management however the PTA Committee may retain a portion of monies raised to use as a float throughout the year.
13. Assistance to the School
a. Equipment: Where the Association decides to provide the school with any educational equipment it will, prior to the purchase, consult with the Principal as to the type, quality and specification of the equipment and only provide equipment that is approved by the Principal.
b. Any fundraising initiatives, events or dates must be pre-approved by the Board of Management via the Principal through the PTA Committee.
14. Parent Teacher Association and Management of the School
a. The PTA Committee have no part in the overall management of the school, which is the responsibility of the Board, neither of management nor in the day to day running of the school, which is the responsibility of the Principal.
b. Should a situation arise where a PTA Committee member feels matters should be brought to the attention of the school authorities in either area, it may do so only through —
i. The parents’ representatives elected to the Board and who are ex-officio members of the PTA.
ii. In writing to the Chairperson of the Board.
c. Individual members of the PTA Committee are only entitled to meet the principal or any individual teacher on matters which pertain to their own child in the school. A PTA member cannot engage with the Principal or teacher on behalf of another child.
15. Public Relations
The PTA Committee will, at all times, endeavour to act in the best interest of the parents/guardians and children of the school. It will not, nor will any of its members, act as representatives of the school.
16. Dissolution
In the unlikely event of the PTA Committee going into dissolution, all funds and records shall be handed to the T.ET.N.S Board of Management for safe keeping until another Committee is formed.
This policy will be reviewed in 2021
This policy was ratified by the Board of Management on October 18th 2018.
Signed: Michael Joyce
Chairperson, Board of Management
