1800 Board of Education Organization
COMPOSITION OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
In conformity to the laws of the State of Oklahoma, the Board of Education shall consist of five members, each serving a five-year term, with one member’s term expiring each year. Members must live within the ward they are to represent. New members elected to the Board of Education or incumbents re-elected shall take office the first meeting after certification by the election board, on which date the Board of Education shall be reorganized and officers elected for the ensuing year.
Any legally qualified voter of the Union Public School District may become a candidate for a seat on the Board of Education by filing a prescribed form with the office of the county election board between the hours of 8 a.m. on the first Monday in December and 5 p.m. on the following Wednesday.
The Board of Education shall have authority to fill the unexpired term of any vacancy which may occur in the Board of Education as provided by law.
OFFICERS
Officers of the Board of Education shall be a president, vice president, clerk and assistant clerk whose duties are subsequently defined. The officers shall be elected for a term of one year, and shall serve until successors are appointed and qualified.
DUTIES OF OFFICERS
A. President:
1. The president of the Board of Education shall serve as presiding officer and shall manage routine work of the Board, sign all contracts, sign all warrants authorized by the Board to be drawn on the treasurer of the school, serve as spokesperson of the Board, and perform other duties that are delegated by state law or order of the Board.
2. The president shall, in addition to performing the duties specifically imposed upon him/her by the school code, in the interim of the meetings of the Board of Education, have authority to enforce all permanent rules and regulations which may be adopted for the government and control of the district, and shall at all times take such measures and employ such means as may be proper and lawful to enforce the school laws within the district.
3. The president shall have authority to appoint a member as ex-officio representative of the Board of Education to other organizations of the community who request such representation.
4. The president shall, with the Superintendent, be responsible for developing agendas for Board of Education meetings.
B. Vice President: It shall be the duty of the vice president to perform all duties of the president in case of absence or disability.
C. Clerk:
1. It shall be the duty of the clerk to keep an accurate journal of the proceedings of the Board of Education; to take charge of the district’s books and documents; to countersign all warrants for school monies drawn upon the treasurer by the Board of Education; and to perform other duties as the Board of Education may require.
2. The clerk shall attest, in writing, the execution of all deeds, contracts, reports, and other instruments that are to be executed by the Board of Education.
3. The clerk shall furnish, whenever requested, any and all reports concerning the school affairs, on such forms and in such manner as the State Board of Education may require.
4. The clerk shall serve as custodian of all the records, papers, office property, and official seal of the school district, and at the expiration of the term shall turn same over to his/her successor.
D. Assistant Clerk: It shall be the duty of the assistant clerk to perform all duties of the clerk in case of absence or disability.
MEETINGS-REGULAR AND SPECIAL
A. The regular meetings shall be held the second Monday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Education Service Center Board room. The Board of Education may change the time and meeting place by consent of the majority of the elected Board of Education members.
B. Items which any Board of Education member wishes to be considered on the agenda of a meeting should be communicated to the president and/or Superintendent prior to the printing of the agenda.
C. District patrons who wish to speak to the Board of Education must personally sign in with the Board secretary during the fifteen-minute period preceding each regularly scheduled meeting. The name, home address and the topic that will be presented must be listed to provide a record for the Board minutes. Once the meeting is officially called to order, the opportunity to sign in will be closed.
D. The Board of Education president has the discretion to determine if topics are relevant enough to be heard and to establish the order for presentations.
E. Business transacted at any special meetings may be either for a specific purpose or general purpose.
F. Members, each member and officer, shall have one vote.
QUORUM
A. At all sessions of the Board of Education, majority of the whole number elected shall constitute a quorum to do business.
B. These by-laws and rules may be altered or amended at any regular meeting of the Board of Education by a vote of three-fifths of all members of said Board of Education, provided that one month’s notice of the proposed alteration or amendment has been given in writing at some previous meeting of the Board of Education when opportunity has been given for full discussion.
RULES OF ORDER
A. A quorum being present, the president, or in his/her absence the vice president, shall take the chair, call the meeting to order, and proceed to do business.
B. Should both the president and vice president be absent at the time appointed for the meeting to convene, and should a quorum then be present, a president pro-tempore shall be elected to serve for such meeting or until either the president or vice president shall appear.
C. The president may speak on points of order in preference to other members and shall decide questions of order, subject, however, to an appeal to the Board of Education by any two members.
D. Every motion shall be reduced to writing, if the president or any member shall so require.
E. Any member who shall have made a motion shall have liberty to withdraw it, with the consent of the second, before any debate has been had thereon, but not after such debate has been had without leave being granted by the Board of Education.
F. The consideration of any question may be postponed to a time fixed or the question may be suppressed altogether by an indefinite postponement.
G. A motion once voted down shall not be renewed at the same meeting without the consent of the number of members required for adoption.
H. When any business is brought regularly before the Board of Education, the consideration of the same shall not be interrupted except by motion for adjournment, to lay on the table for previous question, for postponement, for commitment, or for amendment.
I. A motion for adjournment shall always be in order and shall be decided without debate except that it cannot be entertained when the Board of Education is voting on another question or while a member is addressing the Board.
J. Every member of the Board of Education must vote and have his/her action recorded on all questions needing Board approval.
K. The first person recognized by the president as desiring to speak shall have the right to the floor.
L. The officers of the Board of Education shall also perform such other duties as may from time to time be lawfully required of them either through the adoption of permanent rules of other lawful action of the Board of Education.
UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT PUBLIC TRUST AUTHORITY
A. Trustees of the Union School District Public Trust Authority are the members of the Board of Education, unless a member declines or is unable to serve. The Board of Education shall elect a trustee in lieu of a member who declines or is unable to serve, and such elected trustee shall serve a term of office of the Board member who declines or is unable to serve.
B. Such an elected trustee shall reside in the equivalent zone of the district’s Board of Education member, and shall be nominated to serve by that Board member.
C. The Board of Education shall have authority to determine competence, commitment, and other relevant matters concerning individuals nominated to serve on the Union School District Public Trust Authority.
Revised 6/10/96
Revised 12/13/99
Revised 1/8/01
Revised 1/14/02
Revised 4/11/05
Revised 12/10/07