2025/2026 Draft Standing Rules

Even as we close out the 2024/2025 school year, planning for the 2025/2026 school year is in full swing. At the last meeting we elected our new board members for the year and since then we’ve created a rough calendar of events for next year. As part of our 25/26 prep we are doing an annual revision of our Standing Rules For the 24/25 school year we actually adopted our Standing Rules in October of last year. However, with changing our fiscal year from Nov-Oct. to a standard July-June we are moving the adoption of the Standing Rules from Oct. to June. This way we can hit the ground running in the new year. The full contents are below and we will be voted on at the June meeting.

Vestal PTA Standing Rules

2025–2026

Employer ID Number 93-6039411           National PTA Number 00016162

Council Affiliation Portland                 Region 2

1. General

1. The name of this organization shall be: The Vestal Parent Teacher Association (abbreviated to Vestal PTA). Vestal PTA is affiliated with National PTA and Oregon PTA and as such is governed by the unified local unit bylaws and the Oregon PTA bylaws. Those bylaws are available on the Oregon PTA website (https://oregonpta.org).

2. These rules shall be read at a general membership meeting in the first quarter of the school year and may be read by request at any meeting. They may be amended or rescinded by a two-thirds vote at any general meeting. If notice of the proposed action is given at a previous meeting or in the call for the meeting, they may be amended or rescinded by a majority vote.

3. All business of the association shall be conducted by the executive board at any general PTA meeting.

4. We will strive not to schedule events on major religious or cultural holidays as per PPS "Major Religious Holidays and Cultural Events 2025-26" calendar unless it relates to that holiday, for example MLK Jr. Day of Service.

2. Officers

1. The executive board officers of this association shall include at minimum: president, secretary, and treasurer. Additional board positions may be created at the discretion of the president with approval of the general PTA.

2. The executive board elections shall be held at the May general PTA meeting. Ballots may be voted by PTA members who are in attendance at the meeting at the time the vote is taken. No proxy voting is permitted. It is suggested that the newly elected board members attend a board meeting in the spring in preparation for assumption of their elected duties on July 1.

3. If for any reason the office is vacated, the remaining executive board members shall vote to appoint a president to serve out the current school year. If such a vote ends in a tie, the order of succession is vice president, secretary, treasurer.

4. The president of this association may, with the approval of the executive board, appoint standing and special committees as deemed appropriate. Standing committees help perform continuing operations under the oversight of the Board. Special committees go out of existence when the work is completed and the final report is received by the board. All committee chairs are appointed by the president.

5. The primary email account in use by the PTA shall be managed by the president, with access given to officers as appropriate. Additional email accounts desired for the management of long-term activities of the PTA may be authorized as needed only by majority vote of the executive board. The president must have log-in access to all third party accounts used to conduct PTA business (eg. email, volunteer management, newsletter services, etc).

3. Meetings

1. Quorum for each general meeting shall be five voting members. Quorum for each executive board meeting shall be 3/5 of board members.

2. The order of business for the general meetings of this association shall be:

1. Welcome / Call to order

2. Review of Previous Meeting Minutes

3. Principal Updates

4. Financial Report

5. Other Reports (as needed)

6. Unfinished Businesses

7. New Business

8. Announcements

9. Open Forum

10. Adjournment

3. General meetings of this association shall be held either hybrid, remote, or in-person on the first Tuesday of every month at 6:30 pm. Time and location subject to change to meet the needs of our members and community. 

4. The executive board will meet in advance of each regularly scheduled PTA meeting.

4. Membership

1. Annual local unit dues shall be $15 per individual person, which includes $3.25 to National PTA, $8.25 to Oregon PTA, and the balance ($3.50) to Vestal PTA. Those that register through the Oregon PTA website may incur a processing fee ($2.50 as of Summer 2025).

2. With the exception of the PTA Board, PTA Members shall not speak as a representative of Vestal PTA, unless authorized to do so by the Board. This includes, but is not limited to, speaking with the media, utilizing a social media platform, and/or speaking to PPS staff at the district or school level in representation of the PTA.

3. Voting members shall be those members in good standing who have joined the Vestal PTA at least 10 days before the applicable vote. Memberships from the previous year are in effect through October 31st of the current school year. To be in good standing a person must be current on dues. The tracking of members who are in good standing and have voting privileges is the Secretary’s responsibility.

4. Members who find the dues a hardship may request to have them waived via email to the primary PTA email account (vestalelementarypta@gmail.com), or by request to the president. Anyone who requests to have the membership dues waived shall have them waived without further question.

5. Financial Policies

1. Upon receipt of the bank statements, the treasurer shall reconcile the statement and provide Vestal PTA with a current financial report at the next general meeting.

2. Financial books and records are to be audited immediately following the end of the fiscal year, ready to be submitted to the Secretary of the State within one month. The audit shall be conducted by two non-signatory Vestal PTA board members in good standing.

3. Cash must be counted by two PTA members in good standing, with at least one of those two members a Vestal PTA board member. Cash counted must be verified on the money counting worksheet and submitted to the treasurer. All monies collected shall be deposited in a timely manner by the treasurer or a current PTA board member in good standing. Receipts for all deposits shall be promptly presented to the treasurer.

4. All checks must be signed by two of the three authorized signatory Vestal PTA board members. The president and secretary shall be authorized signatories on any and all bank accounts. The Vestal PTA board may add board signatories as needed.

5. The board president is the only individual who can agree to contracts, whether written or oral, on behalf of the Vestal PTA, unless such permission is given to another executive board member in writing.

6. The executive board is authorized to write checks for items in the budget approved by the general membership. New expenditures not accounted for in the budget need member approval. Unexpected expenditures under $200 that are time-sensitive may be approved by the board and reported at the next general meeting. Spending for any line item in the budget can exceed the budgeted amount by 10% without member approval. Any excess spending beyond that must be voted on by the general membership. Expenditures not expressly prior approved by the general membership risk denial of reimbursement.

7. Reimbursement forms with receipts attached shall be submitted to the treasurer in a timely fashion. Year-end receipts should be turned in no later than the Friday following the last day of school. Late forms will be reimbursed in the fall unless other arrangements are made with the treasurer. Reimbursement checks related to an approved PTA activity will be cut and distributed within three weeks of receipt.

8. Vestal PTA shall strive to maintain a minimum balance of $7,500 in the PTA checking account.

9. The Vestal PTA has restrictions and goals for some of its assets:

1. The Vestal PTA shall reserve up to $2,000 to assist Vestal families in need.

2. From the Vestal PTA’s Lola and William Fund $500 a year shall be donated to the YMCA for drowning prevention classes with the explicit goal of zeroing out the account in the next two years.

3. Some funds are part of the Covered Playground Fund and shall only be used for funding an outdoor area where children may play sheltered from the elements, or expenditures directly related to such a project