Constitution of the ISP Secondary School Student Council

Transcription

1 Constitution of the ISP Secondary School Student Council Realising the necessity for student self governance, understanding the importance of communicating the views of the student body, desiring to further the welfare of students, and believing that student government is needed to carry out these actions, we the students of the Secondary School of the International School of Paris (School) do hereby establish the ISP Secondary School Student Council (Student Council). Information about the constitution: constitution has to be available for the whole student body to read. Upon entering the student council the student council body has to informed about the content of the constitution. This will be done by the student council body president, if not the vice president or the student council staff facilitator. Article 1: Matters of Importance 1. The name of this organisation is to be the ISP Secondary School Student Council. 2. The purpose of Student Council is to protect and improve the rights, opportunities, and quality of school life of every student. 3. The role of a Student Councillor is to do what they think best advances the rights, opportunities, and quality of school life of their Grade. 4. The authority of Student Council is derived from the students of the School and collectively recognised by the Board of Trustees and by the Senior Leadership Team of the School. 5. The Student Council will show tolerance to all and will consider all ideas, regardless of who they come from. Article 2: Appointment of Student Councillors Part 1: Preface 1. Student Councillors may be appointed either by being elected by the student body by being appointed directly by the Student Council. 2. The purpose of providing for appointment directly by the Student Council is to ensure that the Student Council always has the required skill set needed to fulfil its purpose (as outlined in Article 1, Paragraph 2). 3. Regardless of how they are appointed, all Student Councillors have the same rights and obligations, with the exception that directly appointed Student Councillors may not vote on proposals nor hold the office of President or Vice President any executive role or liaison position with the exception of secretary. 4. In the event of a vacancy on the Student Council arising at any time, the vacancy will be filled either by a general election (as outlined in Article 2, Part 2) or directly by the Student Council (as outlined in Article 2, Part 3), at the discretion of the President. 1

2 Part 2: Appointment By General Election 1. Each Grade is to hold an election in beginning of the school year of the school year preceding the school year that the Student Councillors are being elected for. 2. Each Grade is to elect as many Student Councillors as there are homerooms for that Grade. 3. All students have the right to declare their candidacy and to vote in the election but only in their respective Grade. 4. All candidates are to be given an equal amount of time to give a speech. No candidate may be impaired from making a speech. 5. The vote is held anonymously. The candidates with the greatest number of votes are declared as the newly elected Student Councillors. 6. In the case of a tie that prevents determination of the correct number of Student Councillors for a given Grade, a re vote is to be held between only the tied candidates. The number of votes each student has in the re vote is equal the number of seats left unfilled. 7. If the number of candidates standing for election is less than or equal to the number of vacancies, then the candidates standing will be declared as the newly elected Student Councillors without an election. If required, the procedure outlined in Article 2, Part 1, Paragraph 4 will be carried out to fill remaining vacancies. 8. Any re count is at the Homeroom Teachers discretion or at the request of at least eight students. Part 3: Appointment Directly By The Student Council 1. The proportion of Student Councillors appointed directly by the Student Council may not, immediately following the election of any such a Student Councillor, exceed 15% of the total number of Student Councillors. 2. Any Student Councillor may, at any point during the school year, propose that a particular student be directly appointed as a Student Councillor if they believe the Student Council s purpose (as outlined in Article 1, Paragraph 2) could be better fulfilled with addition of the skill set of at that particular student. 3. If appointment of the student would not breach Part 3, Paragraph 1 above, then the student may be appointed as Student Councillor by a simple majority vote of the Student Council. Article 3: The Executive Committee Part 1: Role of the Executive Committee 1. The Executive Committee is the President, the Vice President, the Secretary, the Treasurer, and the student teacher mediator 2. It is the responsibility of the Executive Committee to seek to ensure the Student Council fulfills its purpose. a. It is the duty of the President to lead all interactions between the Student Council and the School administration. b. It is the duty of the Vice President to advise and assist the President. c. It is the duty of the Secretary to coordinate the agenda and minutes of meetings and to ensure their distribution to Student Councillors and their availability to the Student Body. 2

3 d. It is the duty of the Treasurer to account for Student Council funds and oversee the financial stability of the Student Council. 3. When voting on proposals, the votes of the Executive Committee have the same value as any other vote. Part 2: Election of the Executive Committee 1. If ever a position on the Executive Committee becomes vacant, it must be filled within ten school days, in accordance with the following rules. 2. Any Student Councillor may present themselves for election to any position on the Executive Committee, with the exception that if the President is in Grade 12, the Vice President must not also be in Grade All candidates must be provided with an opportunity to present themselves to their electorate. 4. All people eligible to vote in an election must be provided with the opportunity to vote. 5. If there is more than one vacant position on the Executive Committee for which an election is being held, the elections are to be held in order of descending seniority. 6. In the event that a whole school election is being held, an Electoral Commissioner is to be elected by a vote of the Student Council to coordinate all affairs relating to the election. It is the duty of the Electoral Commissioner to ensure that the election is fair and follows the rules set out in this constitution. a. Should a Student Councillor feel that the Electoral Commissioner is not behaving accordance with his or her remit, a motion of no confidence may be proposed. If the Student Council agrees with this proposal, then the Electoral Commissioner will be removed, and a new Electoral Commissioner elected in their place. 7. If, at any time, the position of President or Vice President is vacant, a whole school election is to be held to appoint a Student Councillor to this position. The election is to be held using the procedure outlined in Article 3, Part If, at any time, the position of President is vacant, but the position of Vice President is filled, the Vice President is to assume the role of President. 9. If, at any time, the position of Treasurer or Secretary is vacant, an internal Student Council election is to be held to appoint a Student Councillor to this position. 10. The Student Council Staff Facilitator, with assistance if necessary, is to count the votes of all elections, and announce the results to the electorate. 11. In the event of a tie that prevents the determination of a winner of an election, a re vote is to be held as soon as possible between only the tied candidates. Part 3: The ABC Borda Count System 1. On the day of voting, students will receive a ballot with the names of all presidential candidates. 2. They are to place the letter A next to the name of their first choice, a B next to their second choice and a C next to their third choice. 3. The election will be held in either of the following manners at the discretion of the Electoral Commissioner each election. a. A ballot box will be located in a room where all students will have access to it throughout the election day. Ballots shall be placed in the box after the student has been checked off for voting, all under the supervision of the Electoral Commissioner or the Student Council Staff Facilitator, who will count the votes 3

4 afterwards. b. Student Councillors will distribute ballots throughout their respective homerooms during their 15 minutes of homeroom and collect them before the end of this time. They will then place them in an envelope and give them to their homeroom teacher who will either give the ballots to the Student Council Staff Facilitator before the end of the school day or place it in the Student Council Staff Facilitator s pigeon hole. 4. In order for a ballot to be valid it must meet the requirements below. a. If the ballot box method was done there must be the signature of the voter clearly marked on the ballot b. If there are more than two candidates three different candidates must have three different letters. c. If a name has more than one letter the ballot is invalid. d. If a letter is repeated the ballot is invalid. 5. Each of the ballots are worth 6 votes which will be distributed in the way outlined below. a. 3 votes will be given towards the candidate marked with an A, 2 to the candidate marked with a B and 1 to the candidate marked with a C. 6. The candidate who receives the most points (whether they came mostly from As, Bs or even Cs) will be elected as the Student Council President. 7. The next eligible candidate (meaning if another part of the Constitution prohibits a candidate due to their grade or etc.) with the highest amount of votes will become the Student Council Vice President. Article 4: Running of the Student Council 1. The Student Council is to hold weekly general meetings. Additional meetings may be held at the President s discretion. 2. Items for the agenda are to be sent to the Secretary before meetings. 3. The meetings are to be chaired by a rotating chair,(up to the President or Vice President to control and balance this out fairly) Student Councillors should seek the advice of the Student Council staff facilitator if they are unsure how to chair a meeting. Meetings must follow the agenda. 4. For a Student Council meeting to be held, at least 2/3rds of the Student Council must be present. 5. Student Councillors must attend each Student Council meeting, and must excuse themselves in advance if they cannot be present. If a Student Councillor has more than four unexcused absences, they must bring ( vote of no confidence)to the next Student Council meeting and humbly ask to be pardoned. 6. Any Student Councillor may present a proposal to the Student Council, though not anonymously. After debate and questioning, the Student Council is to vote whether to accept the proposal. The Secretary is in charge of tallying the votes. Except as described in Article 6, any proposal which receives the support of a majority of the votes cast is passed. 7. The Student Council is to hold, at minimum, one meeting once a year open to the School community to provide the School community an opportunity to voice their concerns directly. Members of the School community may comment on proposals and all other items of discussion, however, only Student Councillors may vote. 8. The Student Council may set up committees if it feels a task would be better handled by 4

5 a committee. a. A committee has no power to act on behalf of the Student Council unless the Student Council has specifically authorised it to do so. b. Each committee may decide how it is to be governed. A committee may approach the Executive Committee or Student Council staff facilitator for guidance if it is unsure how to govern itself. c. At every meeting of the Student Council, all committees are to give a progress report to the Student Council. The Student Council can then give the committee further instructions. d. Once a committee has completed its task, it is to be dissolved.(this does not apply to events committee) Article 5: Dismissal of a Student Councillor 1. Student Councillors must respect and follow this constitution and School rules. 2. A motion of no confidence in a Student Councillor may be proposed by any Student Councillor if they believe that a Student Councillor is not respecting this constitution or School rules. The Student Council will vote anonymously. 3. A motion of no confidence in a Student Councillor may be proposed by a Student Councillor s Grade if they believe that their Student Councillor is not respecting this constitution or School rules. Grade Heads will facilitate an anonymous vote. 4. If a motion of no confidence is proposed, the Student Councillor in question must be notified in advance and given the opportunity to defend him/herself before a vote is taken. 5. If a motion of no confidence passes, the Student Councillor in question is to be dismissed immediately. 6. When a Student Councillor is dismissed, a new Student Councillor is to be elected to replace them through the process described in Article 2. Article 6: Amendment Procedure for the Constitution 1. Any Student Councillor may propose amendments to the constitution. An amendment may incorporate multiple changes to the constitution. 2. The Student Councillor proposing the amendment must explain their amendment to the Student Council. This is then to be followed by discussion. When the time allotted for the explanation and discussion of the amendment has passed, the Student Council must vote on the amendment. An amendment proposal will only pass if it receives the support of a 2/3rd majority of the votes cast. 3. If the amendment is passed it is to be immediately incorporated into the Constitution. The Student Body is to be advised of the change. 5

6 new stuff: events committee sets of rules and regulations, subcategory of constitution or extra document? Having a student council list/register with all the member names Defining liason roles with short job descriptions, maybe separate article or document? 6