Shau Kei Wan Chung Tsin School Parent-Teacher Association

Revised in October 2008

Constitution

1. Naming

This association is named "Shau Kei Wan Chung Chun School Parent-Teacher Association".
Shaukiwan Tsung Tsin School Parent-Teacher Association

2. Meeting Site

3 Basel Road, Shau Kei Wan, Hong Kong

3. Purpose

This association is an organization under the Board of Directors of Shau Kei Wan Chung Chin School, upholding the school's mission and promoting connections between families and the school.
Through activities or seminars, parents, students, and teachers can deepen their understanding of each other, care for one another, and jointly create a good educational environment.
Strengthen the spirit of cooperation between the two sides.
Provide feedback to the school, contribute professional expertise, and assist the school in improving the quality of education.
Parents and teachers are encouraged to exchange experiences and work together to find effective ways to raise children.

4. Membership and Member Rights and Obligations

Membership:
Parent Members: All parents or guardians of students enrolled in this school automatically become "Parent Members" of this association and are required to pay membership fees. However, each family may only select one representative to run for election and vote.
Teacher Members: All current principals and teachers of this school are "Teacher Members". No membership fees are required.
Honorary Members: The Standing Committee of this Association may invite prominent members of the community, current or former school supervisors and board members, parents or guardians of former students, and former teachers to serve as "honorary members" of this Association. No membership fee is required, but sponsorship is welcome.
right:
Parent members and teacher members have the right to move motions, vote, elect, and be elected at the annual general meeting and special general meeting. Honorary members, on the other hand, have all the other membership rights.
obligation:
Members are obligated to attend general meetings and special general meetings, and must abide by the constitution and resolutions passed by the general meeting or the standing committee. Parent members are required to pay an annual fee.

5. Membership fees

All parents or guardians of this school automatically become parent members of this association and are required to pay membership fees. Each family is counted as one member, regardless of the number of children attending the school. Teacher members and honorary members are not required to pay membership fees.
The Standing Committee may recommend adjustments to membership fees to the General Meeting of Members as needed. The proceeds from membership fees may only be used to pay for the Association's general expenses, such as printing, paper, stationery, etc., and to organize the activities outlined in Article 3, "Purpose," of the Association's Articles of Association.

6. Organization

General Meeting of Members:
The General Meeting of Members, composed of all members, is the highest authority of the association. An annual General Meeting is held once per academic year, and special General Meetings may be convened as needed. A General Meeting is valid only if at least 10% of all members are present. If the attendance at a General Meeting is insufficient, a second General Meeting may be convened within fourteen days. The second General Meeting is valid regardless of the number of attendees.

Powers and responsibilities of the General Meeting of Members:
Amend the constitution of this association.
Electing Standing Committee members.
To discuss and promote the affairs of the association, and to approve the association's financial report.
Improve meeting procedures.

Standing Committee:
During the recess of the General Meeting, the affairs of the association are handled by the Standing Committee. The Standing Committee consists of thirteen to eighteen members (seven to nine parent representatives and six teacher representatives) and ex-officio advisors. Parent representatives are elected by all members at the General Meeting or by written resolution, while teacher representatives are elected by teachers or appointed by the principal.

The positions and responsibilities of the Standing Committee are as follows:
Chairperson (one person): Appointed by a parent committee member, responsible for convening and presiding over the General Meeting of Members, Special General Meeting of Members and Standing Committee meetings; leading the Standing Committee in carrying out the affairs of the association; reporting on the affairs of the association at the General Meeting of Members; and organizing the election of the Standing Committee members.
Vice Chairpersons (two): One parent representative and one teacher representative.
- First Vice-Chairperson (1 person): Appointed by a parent committee member to assist the chairperson in promoting all association affairs; and to exercise the chairperson's powers in the chairperson's absence.
- Second Vice President (1 person): A teacher member serves as the assistant to the president in promoting all association affairs. Secretaries (two people): One parent committee member and one teacher committee member serve as assistants to the president in preparing the association's meeting agenda; writing meeting minutes and handling internal and external documents.
Treasurer (two persons): One parent representative and one teacher representative shall be appointed to manage all income and expenditure accounts and finances of the association; each year, the treasurer shall assist the chairman in preparing a settlement statement, which shall be submitted to the Standing Committee for review and then to the General Meeting of Members for approval.
Volunteer Team Coordinator (Three People): Two parent representatives and one teacher representative will be responsible for general affairs, liaison, and coordination of the parent volunteer team's work.
Recreation (two people): One parent committee member and one teacher committee member will be responsible for planning and promoting all social, recreational, academic and experience-sharing gatherings and other activities of the association.
Editors (three people): Two parent committee members and one teacher committee member will be responsible for coordinating the editing and printing of the association's publications.
The advisor should be the principal and should attend the standing committee meetings of the Parent-Teacher Association.
Parent school board members and alternate parent school board members are ex-officio standing committee members. Therefore, if the elected parent school board members and alternate parent school board members are not standing committee members, the number of standing committee members will be increased by one or two as needed.

If the number of parent representatives is less than nine, the current committee members must decide on one or two positions as concurrent seats. After the election of the new standing committee, a joint meeting of the outgoing and incoming committee members must be held to hand over all duties. The number of standing committee meetings is determined by the current standing committee. If a standing committee member leaves office, the standing committee will decide to elect another member to fill the vacancy. If the chairperson is vacant, the vice-chairperson will fill the vacancy.

Special General Meeting:
A special general meeting may be convened if any motion is jointly proposed by 20% or more of the members. The Standing Committee shall notify all members to attend the "Special General Meeting" one week prior to the meeting.

7. Management and Administration

At least two weeks prior to the general meeting, the chairman of the standing committee must notify each member of the date, time, location, and agenda of the meeting by letter.
Any motion shall be adopted only if passed by a majority of the members present at the general meeting. In the event of a tie between the votes for and against a motion, the chairperson may cast an additional decisive vote.
The Standing Committee has the power to appoint working groups to plan and promote specific activities. Their members (i.e., temporary staff) need not be members of the Standing Committee. The working group automatically dissolves upon completion of the specific activity.
The term of office for standing committee members is one year. Members who are re-elected may be re-elected.
The number of attendees at each meeting of the Standing Committee shall not be less than half of the total number of members; otherwise, the meeting shall be adjourned.
All members of the Standing Committee serve on a voluntary basis and receive no remuneration.
A copy of the minutes of each meeting (including general meetings and standing committee meetings) must be submitted to the Board of Trustees for filing.
The Incorporated Board of Directors has the right to veto any resolution (including activities and measures passed by the General Meeting and the Standing Committee).

8. Finance

The treasurer is responsible for collecting membership fees and other income and depositing them into a designated bank. The chairman, vice-chairman, and treasurer of the standing committee for the year are the valid signatories for all of the association's bank accounts. Withdrawals are valid only if signed and sealed by both a parent and a teacher.
All expenditures must be for the association's administrative expenses or in accordance with the association's objectives.
The Standing Committee has the power to use the Association's funds. Furthermore, the expenditures of each subcommittee must be approved by the Standing Committee in advance.
The financial year of this association runs from September 1st to August 31st of the following year.
The treasurer must retain all receipts and expenditures for two years; after two years, the receipts will be invalid.
The treasurer shall report on the association's financial situation at each meeting of the Standing Committee and prepare a statement of income and expenditure for the fiscal year. After verification by the obligatory auditor, the statement shall be submitted to the Standing Committee for review and then to the General Meeting of Members for approval.
The association shall manage its finances within its means and has no right to incur debt. If the association has any debts, it shall explain them at the general meeting of members and seek solutions.

9. Number of cores

The Standing Committee shall elect a member other than a member of the Standing Committee to serve as a volunteer auditor to calculate the Association’s annual income and expenditure at the end of each fiscal year.

10. Parent-Teacher Board Members

As stipulated in the Education Ordinance and Section 5.1(c) of the School Incorporation Board Bylaws, the composition of the School Incorporation Board must include one parent board member and one alternate parent board member. The parent board member can help improve the quality of education in the school, serve as an important communication bridge between parents and school management, and participate in decision-making on important school matters.

Upon receiving a written request from the Incorporated School Board, the Standing Committee shall, in accordance with the following procedures, elect and nominate parent members to register as parent school board members and alternative parent school board members of the school.

election director
The Returning Officer is a standing committee member who is responsible for coordinating, arranging and executing the entire election process. However, the Returning Officer may not comment on the candidate's participation or voting in that election in order to ensure fairness.

Candidate Qualification
Parents or guardians of all current students in all schools are eligible to run for election, provided that candidates meet the registration requirements for school board members as set out in Section 30 of the Education Ordinance.
Parents who are also current teachers at the school are not eligible to run for election.
Teacher members are not eligible to run for election.
All candidates must obtain valid signatures from no fewer than five parents during the nomination period in order to be eligible to run for office.
The nomination period shall be no less than 7 days.

election
Every parent has an equal right to vote, but each parent has only one vote, regardless of the number of their children attending the school. Teacher members are not eligible to vote.
Elections should be conducted by secret ballot.
The electoral system and procedures must be fair, open, and transparent.
Each family will be issued a ballot, and all ballots must be sealed and returned to the school on polling day or within a specified period.
All returned ballots must be counted publicly and immediately after the voting period ends, and all members (including honorary members, parent members, and teacher members) are welcome to attend and monitor the vote counting.
The candidate with the most votes will be nominated and registered as a parent school board member, and the candidate with the second most votes will be nominated and registered as an alternative parent school board member.
If candidates receive the same number of votes, the winner will be determined by drawing lots among the candidates with the same number of votes.
The Standing Committee must report the election results to the Incorporated School Board before the specified deadline after the election, and nominate the elected parents to the Incorporated School Board for registration as parent school board members and alternative parent school board members according to the election results.

Proposal process
The proposal procedures for parent school board members at meetings of the Incorporated School Board must be carried out in accordance with the provisions set forth in the Incorporated School Board Bylaws.
Parent school board members and their substitute parent school board members automatically become ex officio members of the Standing Committee of the Parent-Teacher Association of Tsung Chung School, Shau Kei Wan, during their term of office.

Term of office for parent school board members and their replacements
The term of office is approximately two years, commencing from the date of registration as a school board member.
If a parent school board member or substitute parent school board member is no longer a parent of a current student at Shau Kei Wan Chung Tsin School during a given academic year, their term of office shall continue until the expiration of their term or the end of the academic year, whichever is earlier.
Parent school board members and their substitutes may not serve more than two consecutive terms.

Parent school board member or replacement parent school board member resignation
Parent school board members or their substitutes may resign from their positions by giving written notice to the supervisor of Shau Kei Wan Chung Tsin School.
To fill vacancies in parent school board or substitute parent school board positions, the Shau Kei Wan Chung Tsin School Incorporated Board of Directors must notify the Parent-Teacher Association of the vacancy.
The notice requires the Parent-Teacher Association to nominate someone to fill the vacancy within three months or a shorter period specified in the notice. If the Parent-Teacher Association fails to comply with the notice within the specified period, the Shau Kei Wan Chung Tsin School Incorporated Board of Directors must request the Parent-Teacher Association to provide reasons for its non-compliance.
The term of office for a new school board member who fills a vacancy midway through the term is not restarted, but rather the remaining part of the original school board member's term.

recall
If the Standing Committee deems that a parent school director and/or a substitute parent school director is unsuitable to continue serving as a school director, it shall, in accordance with the voting method used when electing parent school directors, submit a written request to the Incorporated School Board after the resolution is passed to remove them from the school director register.
11. Dissolution and amendment of regulations

If the Board of Trustees deems any of the Association's activities or measures to be contrary to the school's mission, the Board of Trustees has the right to propose the dissolution of the Association.
To dissolve this association, a two-thirds majority vote of the members present at the general meeting or special general meeting is required. Upon dissolution, any remaining assets may be donated to the school by a general meeting of members.
Amendments to the constitution require approval by two-thirds or more of the members present at the general meeting or special general meeting.
12. Interpretation of the Constitution

If any part of the charter is unclear, the Standing Committee has the authority to interpret it in order to handle matters efficiently.