Standing Rules 2024-2025 – Approved 9/24/2024

1) Name and Identity

The name of this PTSA is Liberty High PTSA 2.6.50. It was chartered on November 19, 1984. Its National PTSA number is 00026132.

2) PTA Purpose and Community

This PTSA serves the children in the Liberty High School community, which includes the residences and businesses in the Liberty High School enrollment area.

3) Incorporation

This PTSA was incorporated on May 15, 1989 and assigned a UBI# which is available from the Treasurer upon request. The Treasurer is responsible for filing the annual corporation report. The registered agent for this corporation is the Washington State PTA. The Employer Identification Number (EIN) is located in the legal documents notebook in the custody of the PTSA president and treasurer.

4) Charities Program

This PTSA is registered under the Washington Secretary of State Charities program; registration number is available upon request. The Treasurer is responsible for filing the annual renewal by May 31st to avoid penalties.

5) Tax-exempt Status

This PTSA was granted tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code in February 1995. A copy of the letter of determination is filed in the legal documents notebooks maintained by the president and the treasurer.

6) IRS Filing

The treasurer is responsible for filing the appropriate federal informational return prior to November 15th and providing a copy to the board of

directors. Copies of the current and past years’ returns are kept in the legal documents notebooks maintained by the president and the treasurer.

7) Registered Agent

This PTSA has designated the Washington State PTA as its registered agent with the Washington Secretary of State’s office, the Washington Department of Revenue, and the United States Internal Revenue Service. Copies of the signed documents making such designation are available in the legal document notebooks maintained by the president and the treasurer.

8) Standards of Affiliation

Per the Washington State PTA Uniform Bylaws, this PTSA will annually complete the Washington State PTSA Standards of Affiliation agreement in its entirety, and we agree to abide by all requirements and to uphold the ethics, policies, and principles of PTA.

9) Membership

Membership in Liberty PTSA shall be open to all people without discrimination. Membership is open to all parents, teachers, staff, grandparents, guardians, students, community members, and any other persons that support and encourage the purposes of PTA. Student members are entitled to voice and vote; however, students under the age of 18 are not allowed to hold elected positions within the PTSA. All students of LHS are honorary members with voice but no vote.

10) Membership Termination

An individual’s membership in Liberty PTSA may be terminated by a two- thirds (2/3) vote of its board of directors for conduct that may damage the value and goodwill associated with PTA, or that violates the purposes, policies, or standing rules of Liberty PTSA including the bylaws of WSPTA and National PTA. Details on the process for termination of membership are included in current WSPTA policy. Liberty PTSA shall notify the WSPTA

board of directors within 5 business days if a membership has been terminated.

11) Membership Dues and Council Fees

The dues for Liberty PTSA shall not exceed $30.00 per family membership, $20.00 per individual membership, $15.00 for staff, and $10.00 for student and community members, per year. The membership fees are determined by the membership and shall be no less than necessary to cover the required National, State, and Council fees. All paid members may make motions, participate in debate, and vote at PTSA membership meetings.

12) Membership Meetings and Quorum

Adoption of the budget, adoption of standing rules, election of the nominating committee, report of the financial review committee, and the election of officers shall take place at membership meetings.

Membership meetings may be held in person or by remote communications where all participants may hear one another and participate fully.

Voting will take place at a meeting.

A calendar of membership meetings adequate to accomplish the business of the corporation shall be determined by the board of directors.

Members will receive notice of the place, date, and time of the meetings not less than ten nor more than sixty days prior to the date of the meeting. A quorum of at least ten (10) members must be present to conduct business.

13) Board of Director Meetings

The board of directors shall set a calendar of regular board meeting dates and times. Special meetings of the board of directors may be called by the president or upon written request of the majority of members of the board of directors.

Board meetings may be held in person or by remote communications where all participants may hear one another and participate fully.

Voting will take place at a meeting.

Notification of place, date, time, and purpose of the meeting shall be delivered to each member of the board of directors via email at least five (5) days prior to the special meeting. Quorum for board meetings is a majority of the sitting board.

The right to make motions, participate in debates, and vote at PTSA board meetings shall be limited to members of the board of directors, unless a motion to suspend the rules is approved by a two-thirds vote.

In the event that the Board of Directors needs to conduct a vote immediately, outside of a board meeting, a quorum vote can be conducted via email. The email record will be printed and filed in the Secretary notebook.

14) Elected Officers, Co-Officers, Standards of Affiliation & Training

The elected officers of Liberty PTSA shall be president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer.

Officers of this PTSA shall be elected for a one-year term. An officer may not serve more than two consecutive fiscal years in the same office. An officer having served eight or more months in the same fiscal year shall be considered to have served a full year.

Any elected position may be held jointly by two (2) people. Each co-position holder shall be entitled to make motions, participate in debate, and vote at a meeting of the executive committee or board of directors.

Liberty PTSA will review the WSPTA Standards of Affiliation annually. The president is responsible for maintaining the required documentation.

Each elected officer must attend a minimum of one WSPTA-approved training during the PTA year. Further, at least one elected officer will attend PTA and the Law during the PTA year.

15) Board of Directors

The board of directors of Liberty PTSA may consist of the elected officers and the chairs of the following standing committees: Advocacy, Communications, Board Member(s) At-Large, Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Family and Community Engagement (FACE), Membership, Outreach, and Senior Events (current Sr. Class).

This PTSA’s board of directors will meet at least 4 times during the school year at a date and time to be determined by the board. Quorum for a board meeting is simple majority (50%+1). Additional positions can be appointed by the president for a one-year term. Per IRS regulations, family members or members of the same household are not allowed to serve on the board at the same time.

An office/board position shall be declared vacant if that person misses three meetings without prior approval from the President. If a position on the Board of Directors is not filled or becomes vacant, the duties of that position will be shared among the members of the board or may be appointed until an election at a general membership meeting can be held to fill that vacancy.

16) Officer Election Process

Voting for officers or nominating committee positions shall take place at a membership meeting.

17) Committees

The executive committee shall establish committees. Committee chairpersons shall be appointed by the president and approved by the

executive committee for a term of one year. All committee chairpersons must be current members of this PTSA.

A committee chair may be removed from their position by a vote of the board of directors.

The President(s) is an (are) ex-officio member(s) of all committees, except the Nominating Committee and Financial Review Committee.

The Nominating Committee shall be comprised of at least three PTSA members. Members may not serve on the Nominating Committee for more than two consecutive terms.

18) Awards

One or more Golden Acorn, Outstanding Advocate, Outstanding Student Advocate, and Outstanding Educator awards may be presented annually. The president shall appoint the awards committee, with the approval of the executive committee. The awards committee will determine the award recipients and whether other awards will be considered on an annual basis. The budget shall determine the number of recipients.

19) Budget and Monthly Financial Reports

Liberty PTSA shall approve its annual operating budget in the spring and fall of each year at a general membership meeting. The board of directors has authority to reallocate any funds budgeted for one line item to another by a two-thirds vote. The annual carryover funds shall be a minimum of $5,000.

The treasurer will submit a monthly financial report to the board of directors.

20) Legal Documents

Liberty PTSA shall maintain two copies of its legal documents, one copy may be in secure online storage. An original or hardcopy of any legal documents shall be kept in a legal documents notebook in a secure location accessible by the president and treasurer. All elected officers shall have access to the contents of online legal document storage.

21) Financial Review

Liberty PTSA financial records shall be subject to a financial review twice annually. The financial review report will be presented at the next following membership meeting.

These reviews should be conducted by a committee of at least two (2) PTSA members appointed by the President.

No signer on the bank account shall be on the Financial Review Committee, or any individuals living in their households.

22) Bank Account

Liberty PTSA shall establish one or more accounts in financial institutions as determined by the board of directors. Liberty PTSA shall require the approval of at least two elected officers to make a withdrawal.

23) Online Banking

Liberty PTSA permits the use of online banking to disburse funds. This PTSA’s board of directors will create and approve written procedures and internal controls for utilizing online banking to minimize the risk of misappropriation of funds. Procedures for the use of online banking can be found in current WSPTA policy. Use of a PTSA debit card, credit card or ATM card to disperse funds is not permitted.

24) Bank Account Signers

The board of directors shall determine which officers shall have signing authority on the PTSA bank account.

25) Independent Review of Bank Statements

The PTSA’s monthly bank account statements and online banking account statements shall be reviewed by a non-signer. The bank statement reviewer is appointed by the board of directors. Unopened statements will be provided to the reviewer. The reviewer shall promptly report to the executive committee any concerns or discrepancies identified in the review. If there are no concerns or discrepancies, the reviewer shall initial and date the account statements and deliver them to the treasurer.

26) Payments and Reimbursements

All payment and reimbursement requests for expenses must include an invoice or a receipt and be submitted to the treasurer. All requests for reimbursement should be received within 3 weeks of the expense/event and no later than 7 days from the last day of school or they may be considered a donation to the PTSA.

All checks require two signatures of authorized signers. There will be at least three (3) elected officers on the signature cards for this PTSA’s bank account. No authorized signer will sign a check to her or himself or any individuals living in their households. Use of a PTA debit card, credit card, or ATM card to disperse funds is not permitted. Automatic withdrawals of items such as WSPTA membership dues are permitted if approved by two authorized signers.

All contracts require the signature of two elected officers.

Grant requests will be reviewed and voted upon by the Board of Directors at board meetings, as they are submitted, until May 1 or funds are depleted. Grant requests may also be voted on via email. A record of the vote will be printed by the secretary and filed in the secretary notebook.

All members of the Board of Directors, all committee chairs, website and/or Facebook administrators, and any volunteer handling PTSA funds, must be paid members of the Liberty PTSA.

27) NSF Checks

Should the PTSA receive an NSF check any fees imposed by the PTA’s bank will be charged to the individual. Only one NSF check from the same individual will be permitted during the fiscal year. If the NSF check and any fees are not paid by June 1, the PTSA will not accept any checks from this individual in the future.

28) Voting Delegates

Liberty High PTSA is a member of the Issaquah PTSA Council. The president shall choose four (4) voting delegates and (2) alternates who are authorized to vote on Liberty’s behalf at council meetings.

The voting delegates to the annual WSPTA convention shall be determined in the following order: Incoming president, outgoing president, incoming vice president, incoming secretary, incoming treasurer, outgoing vice president, outgoing secretary, outgoing treasurer. The board of directors will determine how many delegates the budget will allow.

The voting delegate(s) to the WSPTA Legislative Assembly shall be determined in the following order: Advocacy rep, president, vice president, secretary, treasurer. President can appoint a member to attend if no officer is available. The board of directors will determine how many delegates the budget will allow.

29) Policy Review

This PTSA shall maintain policies for board volunteer code of conduct, conflict of interest, money handling, online banking, password transition and social media. These policies shall be reviewed and approved yearly by the board of directors. These policies shall reside with the president and treasurer.

30) Online Account and Password Protection

A list of all active online accounts and programs is kept with the president. A list of active accounts must be provided to the financial review committee, minus passwords and account numbers.

Passwords will be changed by the treasurer annually at the start of the new PTSA fiscal year (July 1st). Passwords should be maintained by both the president and the treasurer.

31) Collaboration with Other Organizations

This PTSA may collaborate with non-PTA organizations. This PTSA will handle only PTA funds and will have in place a signed contract with the other organization to clearly establish whether it is a PTA activity or the other organization’s activity. This PTSA will not be a fiscal agent, fiscal sponsor or sign a sponsorship or charter agreement with any outside organization or agency.

32) Code of Conduct and Social Media Use

All board members and committee chairs must sign and follow the Liberty PTSA Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest policies (electronic signature is ok). Officers, chairpersons, and volunteers shall adhere to the Issaquah School District Volunteer Handbook policies.

Members of this PTSA shall not use their own social media platforms to cyberbully, insult, embarrass, target, or post threats towards any individuals, including school board officials, school administrators, teachers, PTSA members, volunteers, or other individuals that are associated with the Liberty PTSA.

33) Standing Rules

The standing rules of this PTSA shall be adopted annually by a majority vote at the first membership meeting of the school year. The standing rules may be amended at a membership meeting by majority vote if previous notice of the meeting was given. If no previous notice was given, then a two-thirds (2/3) vote is required.