Auburn Special Education Parent Advisory Council By-Laws

Article I:  Name of Organization
The name of this self-governed organization shall be the Auburn Special Education Parent Advisory Council, known as the Auburn SEPAC.

Article II:  Purpose of the Auburn SEPAC
The mission of the Auburn Special Education Parent Advisory Council is to work for understanding of, respect for, and support of all children with special needs in the community.  To that end, they will work to:

a.   promote a network of parents of children with special needs, & provide the   forum to share information.

b.   Advise the Director of Pupil Services and School Committee on operations and development of special education programs, parent & teacher training needs, and help to develop policy.

1.   Conduct a presentation to the school committee once per year.

c.   promote communication between SEPAC members, local and State organizations, councils and groups.

d.   Promote communication and programs within the community to encourage understanding, acceptance and inclusion.

e.   Provide informational forums to parents, educators, students and professionals.

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Article III:  Terms of Membership
General membership shall be open to any resident of Auburn, or person affiliated with the Auburn public schools, who has attended at least one meeting of the Auburn SEPAC during the past 12 months.  Voting membership is required to vote in annual officer elections and other business that comes before any monthly meeting, excluding meeting where vote will take place.

Voting membership shall be any general member…who is a parent or guardian of a child with special needs residing in Auburn, with or without an Individual Education Plan (IEP), or is a parent or guardian of a child with special needs who attends Auburn Public Schools, and who has attended at least one previous meeting of the Auburn SEPAC during the past 12 months or has requested voting status in writing to the Secretary at least one month prior to the vote.

Meetings are defined as any Auburn SEPAC meeting, activities, or committees at which attendance is taken.

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Article IV:  Officers of the Special Education Parent Advisory Council
Officers of the Auburn SEPAC are elected by the voting membership and hold office for one year.  If any office becomes vacant, an election for that office shall be held immediately, with term to expire at the end of August.

Officer responsibilities of the Auburn SEPAC are:

Co-chairs (2)
Set the agenda for each general meeting.

Preside at all meetings of the Auburn SEPAC.

Recommend the organization of, and monitor the function of sub-committees.

Act as liaison with the Director of Pupil Services.

Co-ordinate public communications (if needed), not including those communications that are the Secretary’s.

Secretary
Co-ordinate all communications between the Auburn SEPAC and its membership.

Co-ordinate the recording and filing of minutes of the Auburn SEPAC and its sub-committees.

Treasurer
Co-ordinate efforts to apply for grants, donations, reimbursements or any other funds for which the Auburn SEPAC may be eligible.

Manage and account for funds collected, donated, and spent for the Auburn SEPAC.

Provide a Treasurer’s report at Auburn SEPAC business meetings, to the general membership.

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Article V: Elections
Elections shall be the first order of business during the May meeting.

At any meeting where a vote is to take place, the results of the vote will be determined by those present, provided that a notice of the vote has been provided to the voting membership at least 2 weeks in advance.

Nominations will be made and seconded verbally.  Nominations will be available to voting members at a SEPAC meeting at least 2 weeks prior to elections.  All voting members are eligible to make nominations.

At the election meeting, the co-chairs will ask for those in favor to respond with "aye" and those opposed to respond with "nay".

The co-chairs will notify those elected within 2 days.  New officers shall take office on the first day of the new school year.

The Department of Education will be informed of the annual elections, with the names, addresses and phone numbers of the new Board by June 30 of each year.

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Article VI: Meetings
General Meeting shall be held at least monthly, from September through May.  Notice of all general meeting dates and elections shall be published in the local press in advance, posted at Town Hall, on the internet, and a notice sent to each voting member whenever possible.

Matters which require a vote to be taken of the voting membership include, but are not limited to the following items:

- a change in the by-laws can only be voted on at a general meeting,
- a commitment of financial resources requires a simple majority of voting members present,
- elections require a vote as described in Article V, Elections.

Minutes of all Auburn SEPAC meetings shall be recorded and retained for public record.

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Article VII: Subcommittees
Subcommittees will be created as needed.

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Article VIII: Amendments
These by-laws may be amended by a simple majority of the voting members at a general meeting, but by-laws changes may not be voted upon in the same meeting as they are proposed, unless a quorum (as described in article V) votes unanimously to approve the change.   

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