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By-laws

Home and School Association (HASA) Constitution
Monsignor Slade Catholic School

Article I. Name of Organization

The name of this body shall be the Home and School Association of Monsignor Slade Catholic School.

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Article II. Purposes and Functions

In accordance with the provision of Canon Law and the policies of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, in particular the policies of the Division of Catholic Schools, the Home and School Association (hereinafter referred to “HASA”) of Monsignor Slade Catholic School (hereinafter referred to as the “School”) is established to assist and advise the Principal in furthering the mission of the School.

The HASA of the School functions to:

  • help parents, School administration, and faculty develop a mutual understanding and appreciation of the mission of Catholic Education as lived in this Catholic School within the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
  • provide programs and processes that engage the School families in spiritual, educational, outreach, social, legislative, public relations, service, and fundraising activities that further the mission of the School.
  • develop supportive systems for communication and service to the School.

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Article III. Relationships with other groups

  1. The HASA establishes cooperative relationships with other School structures or organizations. It does not however set policies, determine the appropriation and allocation of School funds, discipline students, develop curriculum, approve instructional materials, write School regulations or get involved in personal matters between HASA Members and School administration or other School structures or organizations. The HASA is not a replacement for and will not act as direct channels of communication and collaboration between families and the School administration and faculty.
  2. The School principal shall at all times keep the HASA Executive Committee and the committee chairs apprised of guidelines from the Division of Catholic Schools, Division of Finance, and other Archdiocesan offices.
  3. The HASA shall provide an avenue for parents/guardians to participate with the School in their child’s education. With the School administration and staff, it shall develop supportive systems for communication and service to the School.
  4. The HASA shall respect the established school practices and policies as set forth by the School Board and by the School Principal as formulated by the State Department of Education and the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

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Article IV. Membership

  1. All parents and guardians of current students, faculty, staff, and the principal of the School are members of the HASA.
  2. Membership dues or fees in the HASA may be set by the Executive Committee in consultation with the Principal and shall be included in the yearly tuition billing.
  3. The principal of the School is an ex-officio, non voting member of the HASA. The Assistant Principal, if designated by the Principal, shall also be an ex-officio, non voting member of the HASA.

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Article V. Officers

  1. The President shall preside over Executive Committee, full committee and general membership meetings; prepare agenda with the Principal for the Executive Committee; prepare the annual calendar for all meetings; prepare agenda with the Executive Committee for general meetings; appoint standing and ad hoc committee chairpersons in consultation with the Principal; and call special meetings when necessary in conjunction with the Principal. The President may act as a liaison between the HASA and other parish, School and community groups. The President works cooperatively with the Principal to insure communication between the HASA and the School administration, faculty, and parish leaders; coordinates HASA activities with the Principal; is accountable, with the HASA Treasurer, for appropriate financial procedures; and is an ex-officio member of all HASA committees except the nominating committee.
  2. The Vice-President acts in the absence of the President and performs other duties as assigned to this office.
  3. The Recording Secretary takes, maintains and distributes in a timely manner minutes for the Executive Committee, full committee and general membership meetings; collects all committee reports; maintains written logs and records of HASA activities; and maintains a list of all members of the HASA.
  4. The Corresponding Secretary disseminates in conjunction with the Principal and/or School administration notices for all Executive Committee, full committee and general membership meetings; conducts the general correspondence of the HASA as requested by the President; coordinates notifications needed in conjunction with the President and Principal; and maintains a record of all incoming and outgoing communications to and from the HASA.
  5. The Treasurer submits regular financial reports to the Executive Committee, full committee and to the general membership; is accountable for handling all monies of the HASA in accordance with Archdiocesan policies (which current policies as of the adoption of this Constitution are attached hereto as Appendix A and made a part hereof); prepares and maintains all HASA financial records; develops, with the Principal and other officers, necessary procedures form collecting, recording, reporting and disbursing of HASA funds; insures, with the Principal, that all HASA monies and financial records are kept in the designated location on School grounds and instructs committee chairs and event coordinators about appropriate procedures for monies and for financial records necessary for each activity and program. The Treasurer shall not pay any monies out of any HASA account without the approval of the President and Principal. The Treasurer shall from time to time as requested by the President or Principal, but not less than annually make a written financial report to the Membership and the School Board with regard to various fundraiser income and expenses, HASA investments and deposits.
  6. The HASA President or the HASA Representative to the School Board as elected by the Executive Committee pursuant to Article VII of this Constitution shall attend meetings of the School Board and make reports to that Board of HASA activities. The responsibility of this representative shall be in keeping with that stated in the School Board Constitution. This representative shall serve as the focal point for communications between the HASA and the School Board and is an ex-officio, non-voting School Board member.

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Article VI. Nomination of Officers

  1. The President, in consultation with the Principal, shall appoint an ad hoc nomination committee chair who shall appoint four additional committee members, who are not currently members of the Executive Committee. The Principal shall be an ex-officio member of the nominating committee. Members of the nominating committee shall not be eligible for office in the school year following their tenure on the nominating committee. The nomination committee chair shall be designated at the first Executive Committee meeting of each school year and introduced to the membership at the HASA November general meeting.
  2. The nominating committee shall:
  • conduct an active and equitable search for HASA officer candidates from the general membership, which search may include a formal call for candidates from the membership either in writing or at a meeting of the membership;
  • develop a slate of two or more candidates per office(if possible);
  • contact the candidates, explain the duties of the office and determine their willingness to serve;
  • review the slate with the Principal for his or her approval; and
  • present the final slate of candidates to the general membership one month prior to the election either in writing or at a general meeting.

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Article VII. Election Process for Officers

  1. In January of each school year, the nominating committee will establish its proposed slate of candidates for each open officer position. This slate shall be published to the general membership at least one month prior to the election. The HASA election shall take place at the general membership meeting in April of each school year. The nomination committee, established in Article VI above, shall serve as the election committee at the April meeting. This committee shall conduct the annual election, count the ballots and report the results to the HASA membership. Officers shall be elected by a majority of members present at the April meeting. The newly elected officers shall be installed and take office at the last Executive Committee meeting of each school year.
  2. The election of the offices of President and Corresponding Secretary shall be held in alternating years with the election of the offices of Vice-president, Treasurer and recording Secretary.
  3. The individual elected to the Office of HASA Representative to the School Board shall be elected by a majority vote of the Executive Committee with the approval of the Principal. This Office shall be a voting member of the Executive Committee. The election for this office shall be held at the last Executive Committee meeting of the school year in which the election of President and Corresponding Secretary has taken place and this Officer shall be installed and take office immediately following their election, pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article.
  4. The term of office shall be two years for each office. Officers may serve two consecutive terms in the office to which they are elected. An officer may also serve up to one additional term of two years if such officer is appointed to a new officer position due to a resignation, removal or death of another officer. Officers who have served two consecutive terms or a total of up to six years shall be eligible to serve again as an officer after a lapse of one year.
  5. An officer may be removed, with cause, by the affirmative vote of a majority of the Executive Committee at any special or regular meeting of the executive Committee. Not less than 10 days written notice shall be given to the members of the Executive Committee prior to any meeting of the Executive Committee at which the removal of an officer will be considered, which notice shall specify the identity of the Officer and the reason for considering removal. The position of any officer shall become vacant upon his or her death, resignation, refusal to act, removal from office or expiration of term. Any Officer who is absent from three (3) consecutive Executive Committee meetings shall be considered to have resigned from that Office unless such absence is excused by the affirmative vote of a majority of the committee. When an Office, other than that of President, becomes vacant, the President, with the approval of the Principal, shall appoint a replacement to complete the unexpired term of the officer. If the Office of President becomes vacant between elections, the Vice-president succeeds to the Presidency and the Executive Committee shall appoint a new Vice-President with the approval of the Principal. In the event there is no candidate at the time of elections for any office, other than HASA President, the President elect with the approval of the Principal shall appoint someone to fill the vacancy. If there is no candidate for the office of President, the Vice-President shall become President and the Executive Committee elect, with the approval of the Principal, shall appoint a Vice-President.

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Article VIII. Executive Committee

  1. The Executive Committee shall consist of the President, Vice-President, Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, Treasurer, HASA Representative to the School Board, the Principal, a School Assistant-Principal as appointed by the Principal, a Faculty Representative as appointed by the Principal, and the chairpersons of any HASA standing committees as outlined in Article IX of this constitution. The Faculty Representative shall be a non-voting advisory member of the Executive Committee. The Principal and Assistant Principal as appointed by the Principal shall be ex-officio, non voting members of the of the Executive Committee.
  2. The Executive Committee shall: plan for the annual direction and calendar of the HASA; expedite the transaction of business between general meetings; act on behalf of the HASA in emergencies; insure that HASA’s work relates to Archdiocesan policies, planning and processes; insure that HASA’s works relates to School Board work with Special attention to financing, planning/policy, marketing/public relations; implement regular self-evaluation and goal setting processes for HASA; develop ground rules for large group participation at general meetings; establish agenda for HASA meetings; approve the appointment of Ad-hoc committees as outlined in Article IX; approve committee chairperson appointments; review committee reports; direct all suggestions from the membership concerning school policies to the School Board or School administration; approve an annual HASA budget; allocate HASA funds to emergency or other necessary School or HASA needs; and perform such other duties as assigned by the President in conjunction with the Principal.
  3. The Executive Committee shall conduct its meetings in accordance with Articles X and XI of this Constitution.

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Article IX. Standing and Ad Hoc Committees

  1. From time to time the Principal, or the President in conjunction with the Principal, may establish standing committees of the HASA that serve the goals and purpose of the organization. Such committees may include, but are not limited to, hospitality, legislative, public relations, social concerns or spiritual development. Standing Committee chairpersons shall be appointed by the President after consultation with and approval by the Principal; shall serve a term of one year, which term can be extended in one year increments with the approval of the President and Principal; is a voting member of the Executive Committee; convenes necessary committee meetings and coordinates all committee responsibilities; submits oral and written reports of the committee’s work to the Executive Committee as requested; is accountable for monies to be handled in accordance with School and Archdiocesan procedures and maintains the required financial records and accounting procedures as outlined by the treasurer in conjunction with the principal and HASA President.
  2. The President, with the approval of the Executive Committee, may appoint ad hoc committees in keeping with HASA purposes. The chairpersons of these ad hoc committees shall be approved by the Executive Committee after consultation with and approval by the Principal, but do not serve on the Executive Committee. The nominating committee is a regularly convened ad hoc committee. Ad hoc committee chairpersons shall serve a term of one year, which term can be extended in one year increments with the approval of the President and Principal; convenes necessary committee meetings and coordinates all committee responsibilities; submits oral and written reports of the committee’s work to the Executive Committee as requested; is accountable for monies to be handled in accordance with School and Archdiocesan procedures and maintains the required financial records and accounting procedures as outlined by the treasurer in conjunction with the principal and HASA President.

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Article X. Meetings

  1. General membership meetings shall be held at least three times annually, usually in October, January and April of each school year. The exact dates and times for these meetings shall be announced on the School calendar. The agenda for the general meetings shall be publicized one month prior to the meeting and the April meeting shall have for one of its purposes the election of Officers for the upcoming school year.
  2. The Executive Committee shall meet at least monthly unless circumstances suggest that more frequent meetings are necessary. Advance notice of these meetings shall be sent to Executive Committee members at least ten (10) days prior to the meeting and shall include the agenda, written committee reports and minutes of the previous meeting. Agenda items for the Executive Committee can be submitted through an Executive Committee member or in writing to the President at least two weeks prior to the meeting.
  3. Special meetings, in addition to the regular meetings mentioned above, may be called with the consent of the President and Principal.

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Article XI. Rules of Order

  1. All Meetings of the HASA shall be conducted according to Robert’s Rules of Order, Revised, when not inconsistent with this Constitution or Archdiocesan guidelines.
  2. At a general membership meeting, action may be taken by majority vote of the membership present at a general membership meeting.
  3. At Executive Committee meetings the consensus method of decision making shall be utilized as outlined by Archdiocesan guidelines. A quorum of the Executive Committee shall be a majority of the members of that committee.

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Article XII. Finance

  1. All HASA funds and disbursements shall be handled in accordance with Archdiocesan policies, which current policies as of the adoption of this Constitution are attached hereto as Appendix A and made a part hereof. Such Archdiocesan policies may be updated or amended from time to time by the Archdiocese and if so, shall automatically become a part of this Article without further need to amend this Constitution to include such updated or amended policies.
  2. The HASA Executive Committee will from time to time, but not less than once a year, direct the Treasurer to make a written financial report to the Membership and the School Board with regard to various fundraiser income and expenses, HASA investments and deposits.

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Article XIII. Amendments to Constitution

This Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the membership present and voting at a regular or special membership meeting, provided the proposed amendment was discussed at the most previous membership meeting and the membership has been notified of the meeting in which the amendment will be voted upon at least two weeks in advance of such meeting.

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Article XIV. Special Rules Governing the Election of Officers for the 2010-2011 School Year Only.

Not withstanding any other provision of this Constitution to the contrary, the following procedures will govern the election of HASA President and Corresponding Secretary for the term beginning with the 2010-2011 school year.

  1. The HASA Vice President will conduct an active and equitable search for candidates from the general membership to fill the Office of President and Corresponding Secretary, which search may include a formal call for candidates from the membership in writing. The slate of candidates shall be developed in consultation with and approved by the Principal and shall be completed by October 1, 2010.
  2. Notice will be given to the membership in writing during the first week of October 2010 that an election will be held at the November general membership meeting to elect a President and Corresponding Secretary.
  3. The persons elected pursuant to this Article shall take office on January 1, 2011.
  4. The term of Office for each person elected under this Article shall expire in May 2012 and subsequent elections for these Offices shall be governed by Articles VI and VII above.

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Article XV. Effective Date of this Constitution.

This Constitution is adopted in accordance with HASA guidelines as set by the Archdiocese of Baltimore, with the approval of the School Principal and the Monsignor Slade HASA Executive Committee and shall be effective as of September 14, 2010.

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