Constitution of the PTA

Name of the Association

(Chinese name) [黃埔宣道小學]家長教師會

(English name) [Alliance Primary School, Whampoa] Parent-Teacher Association

Alliance Primary School, Whampoa, 21 Tak Fung Street, Whampoa Garden, Hunghom, Kowloon

3.1 To forge close home-school contacts between the school and parents and uphold the school aims as an organisation affiliated with the Incorporated Management Committee of Alliance Primary School, Whampoa.

3.2 To enhance cooperation between parents and teachers and among the parents, helping students learn and grow healthily.

3.3 To discuss common issues of concern for providing quality education for students.

4.1 Eligibility

4.2 Honorary members: Honorary members include the school supervisor, sponsoring body managers, alumni manager, and independent manager.

4.3 Full members: Full members include parent members and teacher members:

● Parent members:  All parents or guardians (aged 21 or above) of students currently enrolled in the school shall be parent members. Each family is only required to pay one membership fee.

● Teacher members: The serving principal and teachers of the school shall be teacher members.

4.4 Rights:

● Full members shall have the right to nominate, propose and vote in meetings which they are entitled to attend, and to elect and to be elected as office-bearers. Honorary members shall have the right to nominate, propose and vote, but shall not have the right to elect and to be elected as office-bearers. All members can sit in the meetings of the Executive Committee. Honorary members and teacher members are not required to submit membership fees. 

4.5 Obligations:

● Full members shall attend General Meetings and Extraordinary General Meetings. They shall also abide by the Constitution and the resolutions of the meetings. Parent members shall pay the membership fee annually. The membership fee is determined by the Executive Committee each year. If a member withdraws from the Association, the membership fee previously paid shall not be refunded. 

5.1 General Meeting

● The General Meeting shall be composed of all members of the Association. The affairs of the Annual General Meeting shall include:

reviewing and approving the amended constitution;

electing members and alternate members of the Executive Committee;

discussing, developing and improving the affairs of the Association;

reviewing and approving the financial budget and financial report; and

electing members as volunteering auditors.

● The General Meeting shall be convened by the Executive Committee. 

● The General Meeting shall be convened at least once a year. During the meeting, the chairman of the previous year shall report on the general affairs and the financial status of the Association, and shall preside over the election of the new Executive Committee for the current year.

● The letter of notice for convening the General Meeting shall be delivered to each member of the Association 1 week prior to the meeting.

● Extraordinary General Meetings

i)  After receiving a written request proposing matters for discussion from no fewer than 20 members of the Association, the Executive Committee shall convene an Extraordinary General Meeting. 

ii)  The Executive Committee shall also convene Extraordinary General Meetings if needed.

iii) The letter of notice for convening the Extraordinary General Meeting shall be delivered to each member of the Association at least 1 week prior to the meeting.

● The quorum for all General Meetings shall be 10% of the total number of members. If a quorum is not present at the General Meeting, an adjourned General Meeting shall be convened 7 days thereafter and within fourteen days thereof. The time and venue of the adjourned General Meeting shall be determined by the chairperson. All resolutions passed at the adjourned General Meeting shall be binding regardless of the number of members present.

● A resolution shall be passed if more than 50% of the members present at the General Meeting vote in favour of it. The chairperson shall not vote, unless the votes of the other members are equally divided, in which case he/she shall give a casting vote. However, matters regarding amendments of the constitution and dissolution of the Association shall be handled in accordance with section 10 and 11 of the Constitution. 

6.1 The treasurers shall take charge of collecting membership fees and other income, and shall keep them in the bank account of the Association.

6.2 All expenditure shall be used for achieving the mission of the Association or for administration purposes. 

6.3 The Executive Committee shall have the right to use the funds of the Association. All expenditure shall require approval by the Executive Committee. The school shall have the right to use funds allocated for the use of the school.

6.4 *The deputy treasurer shall keep all receipts for 7 years, upon which the receipt shall be passed to the school for its handling. 

6.5 *The fiscal year of the Association shall be the same as that of the school. 

6.6 The treasurer shall report the financial status of the Association at every Executive Committee Meeting, and prepare the financial budget and financial statement for the Executive Committee’s review and for approval at General Meetings.

6.7 The budget of the Association shall be compiled in accordance with the principles of keeping expenditures within the limits of revenues. The Association shall not incur debts. If debts are incurred, an explanation shall be demanded at the General Meeting and a solution shall be sought.

A voluntary auditor, who must be a member of the Association but not a member of the Executive Committee, shall be assigned by the General Meeting at the Annual General Meeting. He/she shall be responsible for auditing the accounts of the Association at least once a year.

8.1 The Incorporated Management Committee shall include a parent manager and an alternate parent manager as provided for in the Education Ordinance and section 10.2.4 of the Constitution of the IMC. Parent Managers can raise the education quality of the school, bridge communication between parents and school managers, and participate in the school's decision-making. 

8.2 After receiving a written request from the Incorporated Management Committee, the Executive Committee shall conduct the election of parent members to be nominated for registration as the parent manager and alternate parent manager of the IMC according to the following procedures. 

8.3 Returning Officer

●The role of the returning officer shall be taken up by a member of the Executive Committee. He/she shall conduct, arrange and implement the election. However, he/she shall not run for or vote in the election to ensure fairness of the election.  

8.4 The Candidature

i) All parents of current students of the school are eligible to become candidates. Parents in relation to a student include a guardian of the student and a person who is not the parent or guardian of the student but has the actual custody of the student. Candidates shall meet the registration requirements of managers set out in section 30 of the Education Ordinance.

ii) Parents who are also serving teachers of the school shall not be eligible for the election. 

iii) Teacher members shall not be eligible for the election.

iv) All candidates shall collect signatures in support of the nomination from not less than 5 parents during the nomination period to become eligible candidates.  

8.5 Period of Nomination

i) The period of nomination shall be no less than 14 days.

ii) Each parent shall nominate up to 2 candidates for the election.

8.6 The Election

i) All parents of current students of the school shall be eligible to vote. All parents shall have equal voting right. Each parent shall have only one vote irrespective of the number of children he/she has at the school. Teacher members shall not be eligible to vote. 

ii) The voting shall be conducted by secret ballot.

iii) The election system and procedures shall be fair and transparent.

iv) Each parent shall be given a ballot paper. Ballot papers shall be sealed in envelopes and returned to the school on the election day or during the specified period. 

v) Counting of votes shall take place publicly immediately after voting closes. All members of the Association (including honorary members, parent members and teacher members) can witness the counting of votes. 

vi) The candidate who obtains the greatest number of votes shall be nominated for registration as the Parent Manager whereas the one who obtains the next greatest number of votes shall be nominated for registration as the alternate parent manager.

vii) When two or more candidates obtain the same number of votes, the election results shall be determined by drawing lots by those candidates.

8.7 After the election, the Executive Committee shall report the result to the Incorporated Management Committee within the specified period, and shall nominate the elected candidates for registration as the parent manager and alternate parent manager of the Incorporated Management Committee. 

8.8 Procedures of Proposing Matters for Discussion

● Proposals made by parent managers in Incorporated Management Committee Meetings shall follow the regulations stipulated in the Constitution of the Incorporated Management Committee. 

8.9 Recall

● If the Executive Committee deems the parent manager and/or alternate parent manager unsuitable for their roles, a voting session shall be conducted. The method of voting shall be the same as that in the election of parent managers. If the resolution is passed, the Executive Committee shall raise a written request to the Incorporated Management Committee to cancel the registration of the manager(s). 

10.1 After receiving a written request for amendment of the Constitution from not less than 20 members, the Executive Committee shall make a list of the proposed amendment items and convene a Constitution Amendment Committee Meeting.

10.2 The Executive Committee can also propose the amendment of the Constitution after a meeting. The proposal shall be passed to the Constitution Amendment Committee for discussion.

10.3 *The Constitution Amendment Committee shall be composed of 5 members: the chairperson of the Executive Committee, 2 vice-chairpersons of the Executive Committee, the principal, and 1 member assigned by the Incorporated Management Committee (whom cannot be a parent manager, alternate parent manager, teacher manager, or alternate teacher manager).

10.4 Any amendment of the Constitution shall be proposed by the Constitution Amendment Committee, reviewed and accepted by the Incorporated Management Committee, and passed by at least two-thirds of the members present at the General Meeting. 

11.1 If the Parent-Teacher Association violates the school aims of the sponsoring body, members (including full members and honorary members) shall have the right to request the convention of an Extraordinary General Meeting (as provided for in article 5.1.e(i)) to propose the dissolution of the Association.

11.2 In the event of dissolution of the Association, the relevant decision of dissolution shall be agreed upon by at least two-thirds of the parent members present at the Extraordinary General Meeting. If there are any surplus assets, they shall be dealt with according to the resolution of the members at the meeting.

11.3 *If the Parent-Teacher Association violates the school aims of the sponsoring body, the Incorporated Management Committee shall have the ultimate power to pass the resolution of dissolution of the Association, and to convene an Extraordinary General Meeting to discuss matters relating to the dissolution.