The Constitution of the. Regina Public School Teachers Association

The Constitution of the Regina Public School Teachers Association Approved by RPSTA Executive January 2012 Approved by RPSTA Assembly March 2012 Approved by STF Executive September 2012 1

CONSTITUTION OF THE REGINA PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS ASSOCIATION Article I NAME The name of this local association of the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation shall be the Regina Public School Teachers Association, referred to hereafter as the RPSTA. Article II OBJECTIVES The objectives of the RPSTA are: A. To promote and advance the cause of education; B. To promote professional growth among its members; C. To guarantee and improve the professional and economic interests of its members; D. To stimulate intellectual and professional activity; and E. To further the aims and objectives of the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation. Article III MEMBERSHIP The membership of the RPSTA shall consist of those members of the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation, referred to hereafter as the STF, who are: A. Under the jurisdiction of the Regina School Division #4; and B. Employed in independent schools. C. Employed in Associate schools including Regina Christian School, Regina Harvest City Church School and Regina Huda School. D. Employed at Cornwall Alternative School E. Substitute teachers who have substituted in the Regina School Division or Associated schools and have become a member of this local for the current school year under STF Bylaw 6.3.3. 2

Article IV FEES A. All members of the RPSTA shall pay an annual fee to the Association. B. Teachers on a part time contract shall have their fees pro-rated to the proportion of their contract. C. Substitutes shall pay a fee to the Association only on the days they work. Their fee shall be the annual fee prorated to the proportion of time worked. D. The annual fee shall be established as part of the Annual General Meeting held each year. Article V EXECUTIVE and their Duties A. The Executive shall consist of the following elected, voting positions: 1. Executive a) Executive shall be members of the RPSTA and shall be elected annually through secret ballot by the membership. b) The number of Executive shall be a total of 10 consisting of a President, Vice-President and 8 Executive members. In a year where there is a past President then there shall only be 7 Executive members. c) If an Executive member from the RPSTA is elected to serve on the Executive of the STF, that Executive member shall be deemed to be elected to the RPSTA Executive for the duration of time served on the Executive of the STF. i) One additional Executive member may be added to the number of Executive determined in accordance with Constitution Article V.A.1.b. for the duration of time that the Councillor of the RPSTA serves on the Executive of the STF. d) In the event the Vice-President is unable to fulfill the duties of the Vice-President, the Executive shall select one of the Executive to assume the duties of Vice- President until such time as the Vice-President is able to resume his or her duties. e) Each Executive member shall fulfill the duties of Executive members as defined by the STF bylaws. 3

f) Executive members shall receive an annual stipend for their volunteer work on Executive. The amount of the stipend shall be determined by the membership at the AGM. 2. President a) The President shall be an RPSTA executive member and shall be elected for a two year term through secret ballot by the membership following the executive election policy. b) The President shall be an officer of the Association. c) The President, in conjunction with the Treasurer and/or the Vice- President shall have signing authority on behalf of the RPSTA for any financial transactions as approved by the Executive, Assembly or General Assembly. d) The President shall be the official spokesperson on behalf of the RPSTA in any dealings or discussions with nonassociation persons or organizations. e) The President shall call and chair all meetings of the Executive. f) The President shall cast the deciding vote in the case of a tie vote at Executive meetings. g) The President shall have the right to call meetings of chairpersons and committees for the purpose of liaison and planning and shall be an ex-officio member of all committees. h) The President shall promote the Association through school visitations or through other means as determined by the President. i) The President shall be responsible for the day to day operations of the Association. j) The President shall take a leadership role in ongoing communications and liaison with the STF staff. k) The president shall receive an annual stipend for his/her work. The amount of the stipend shall be determined by the members at the AGM. 3. Vice-President a) The Vice-President shall be an RPSTA Executive member and shall be elected for a two year term through secret ballot by the membership. b) The Vice-President shall be an officer of the Association. c) The Vice- President in conjunction with the Treasurer and/or the President shall have signing authority on behalf of the RPSTA for any financial transactions as approved by the Executive, Assembly or General Assembly. 4

d) In the absence of the President the Vice-President shall chair meetings of the Executive. e) In the event the President is unable to fulfill the duties of the President, the Vice-President shall assume the duties of President until such time as the President is able to resume his or her duties. f) The Vice-President shall receive a stipend for his/her work. The amount of the stipend shall be determined by the members at the AGM. B. The Executive shall include the following non-elected positions: 1. Immediate Past President a) The Immediate Past President is the person who held the office of the President of the RPSTA in the school year preceding the election of the current President of the Association. b) The Immediate Past President is a voting member of the Executive for the year immediately following his/her term of office as President. c) In the event a President is elected to a successive term, the position of Immediate Past President shall be vacant. d) Should the Past President resign from teaching or cease to work for Regina School Division #4 immediately following their term as President then there shall be no position of Past President. 2. Treasurer The Treasurer is appointed by the RPSTA Executive and shall be responsible for the financial dealings of the Association a) The Treasurer, in conjunction with the President and/or Vice-President shall have signing authority on behalf of the RPSTA for any necessary financial transactions as approved by the Executive, Assembly or General Assembly. b) In the event that the Treasurer is not an elected Executive member, the Treasurer is a non-voting member of the Executive. c) In the event the Treasurer is not an elected Executive member their position shall not count when determining the eligible number of councillors for Fall and Spring Council. 5

3. Secretary a) The secretary shall be a hired position of the Association. b) The secretary shall take and produce the minutes of all meetings of the Executive. c) The secretary shall be paid a set amount per meeting of the Executive. The amount shall be set by the Executive. d) Should the secretary resign, or be terminated, then it is the duty of the Executive to advertise and recruit a new secretary immediately. Should a new secretary not be hired immediately it shall be the responsibility of the Vice-President to take the minutes until a new secretary is hired. C. The Executive term of office shall be from July 1 to June 30 of the following year. D. The Executive shall meet at least once a month, except during July and August. E. Minutes shall be taken at all Executive meetings and shall be kept as an official record. F. The Executive may recommend motions or resolutions to the Assembly. G. Quorum at Executive meetings shall be 2/3 of the total number of councillors. Should the number of councillors at an Executive meeting drop below the 2/3 s needed for quorum then the meeting shall be called to a close. H. The proceedings of Executive meetings shall be governed by Roberts Rules of Order or a modified version as agreed to by the executive. Article VI THE ASSEMBLY OF SCHOOL REPRESENTATIVES A. The Assembly shall consist of: 1. All members of the Executive. 2. Representatives from schools and Associate Schools as defined in article 3 (above) under the jurisdiction of Regina School Division #4, and affiliated schools within the boundaries of Regina School Division #4, referred to hereafter as Assembly Representatives; 6

a) Each school staff shall elect one representative for every twelve teachers, or portion thereof, on the staff of that school. i) Each itinerant teacher shall designate his/her school for the purpose of determining the total staff number. ii) All members of the Association who work at or from Central Office in student support services shall be considered the staff of one school. iii) All members of the Association who work at Central Office in curriculum support services shall be considered the staff of one school. iv) All members of the Association who have been seconded shall be considered the staff of one school. 3. Two representatives named by the Regina Public School Substitute Teachers Association; and 4. The Speaker of the Assembly a) The Speaker of the Assembly, referred to hereafter as the Speaker, shall be elected from the Assembly Representatives at the first meeting of the school year. b) The term of office shall continue until June 30; c) One additional Assembly Representative may be elected from the school of the Speaker for the duration of the time that he/she serves as the Speaker. d) In the event that no one puts forth a name to be speaker it shall become the duty of the Vice President to assume the role of speaker until such time as one is elected from the assembly. B. The Assembly shall meet at least once a month, except during July and August. The time and place shall be determined by the Executive. C. A copy of the minutes of the Assembly and a financial report shall be provided to each school following each Assembly Meeting. D. The proceedings of the Assembly shall be governed by Robert s Rules of Order. E. Quorum for Assembly meeting shall be 2/3 s of those representatives present at the announced start time. F. Decisions of Assembly are made by a vote, to which a simple majority of those voting constitutes the moving of a motion. 7

Article VII GENERAL MEETINGS A. The Association must hold an Annual General Meeting. 1. The Executive shall establish the place, time and date of the Annual General Meeting. 2. Notice of the Annual General Meeting shall be given to all Association members at least one month prior to the meeting. 3. The Annual General Meeting shall be open to all members of the Association. 4. Agenda items for the Annual General Meeting shall include: a) Presentation and adoption of the Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting; b) Presentation and adoption of the Annual Budget; c) Establishment of the annual membership fee; d) Presentation and adoption of the Audited Financial Statement; e) Presentation of Annual Committee Reports; f) Presentation and adoption of Committee Membership; and proposed Constitutional Amendments. 5. A separate set of Minutes shall be distributed and filed for the Annual General Meeting. B. The Association may hold General Meetings as the need arises. 1. The Executive or Assembly shall establish the place, time and date of such meetings. 2. Notice of the General Meeting shall be given at least one week prior to the meeting. 3. General Meetings are open to members of the Association and guests of the Assembly. C. Notwithstanding Article VII. B., the Executive or Assembly may call a General Meeting to deal with an emergent issue. 1. Notice for an emergent General Meeting may be less than one week. 8

Article VIII ELECTIONS A. Assembly Representatives shall be elected internally within each school before the first Assembly Meeting of that school year. B. The Chairperson of the Elections Committee shall be the Chief Returning Officer, responsible for the election of Councillors, the President and the Vice-President. 1.a) In the event that the Chair of the Elections Committee wishes to stand for election as Councillor, President or Vice-President, another RPSTA member not seeking election shall be appointed Chief Returning Officer by the Executive. C. The election of the RPSTA Executive members shall occur following these guidelines. Executive each year shall establish the dates for elections for each position and shall make those dates known to the membership in a timely manner allowing for teachers to have time to consider running. 1.1 President a) The President s position shall be the first Executive position elected and shall be a two year term. b) The president shall be elected from a vote of all the membership. c) Any teacher with the Regina Public School Division can run for the position of President. d) Each candidate must submit a nomination form signed by a teacher currently employed by the Regina Public School Board. That form must be given to the current President prior to the established closing date for nominations. e) Candidate(s) running shall be given the opportunity to send out to each school a one time mail out of campaign materials for posting in every school. The time of the mail out shall be determined by the Elections Committee. f) In the event only one person runs then that person shall be declared elected by acclamation. g) If two or more teachers run then those names shall be placed on the ballot which shall then be distributed to all schools for voting, carried out over a two day period. h) Substitute teachers who are working on the day of an election are eligible to vote by registering with the Assembly rep. i) The ballots for each school are to be collected by the Assembly reps for that school and returned to the RPSTA office by 6pm on the day that voting closes. In the event of an electronic election, individual teachers shall register their votes online within the 48- hour election period. 9

j) The ballots shall be counted by the Elections Committee. In the event of an electronic election, the results shall be observed by the elections committee. The results are to be shared with each candidate running, with the winner being called first. k) Each candidate may have an observer present when the votes are being counted or the electronic results observed. l) The candidates not successful in being elected President may let their name drop down and be placed on the Vice-President ballot. 1.2 Vice-President a) The procedure for Vice-President and the term of office shall be the same steps (a-k) in the same order as the vote for president. 1.3 Executive a) Teachers wishing to run for the position of Executive shall, at the completion of the President and Vice-President elections, fill in a nomination form signed by a teacher with Regina Public School Board and submit it to the current president. b) Steps (e) through (k) of section C 1 shall be followed in electing Executive. c) The individuals with the most votes equal to the number of positions available shall be declared elected. 1.4 Councillor(s) a) The number of Councillors elected, shall be equal to the previous years RPSTA councillor numbers at STF Spring Council minus the 10 Executive positions. This number may vary from year to year. b) One Councillor position shall be held for and filled by the RPSSTA s elected representative. In the event that no election is held or no one runs then the position shall be filled by a member of Assembly in accordance with VIII C2. c) Councillors shall attend Assembly meetings and have a vote there the same as school Assembly Reps. d) Councillors shall not hold the position of school Assembly rep e) Councillors are required to attend STF Fall and Spring Council as well as RPSTA Mini-Council. Following Mini-Council Councillors may attend the Executive meeting where Spring Council resolutions are discussed. f) Councillors are automatically the Resolutions Committee of the RPSTA. In this role they shall assist teachers with the correct format for writing resolutions. They are further charged 10

with ensuring that resolutions are sent to the STF for inclusion in either, Fall or Spring Council. g) Councillors are encouraged to run for Executive positions. h) In a year in which the RPSTA Executive holds a two day summer retreat Councillors shall be invited to one day of that retreat. i) A Councillor shall receive a stipend for his/her work. The amount of the stipend shall be determined by the members at the AGM. 2. It shall be the responsibility of the Assembly to maintain the Executive and the Councillors positions at full compliment. 3. Vacancies shall have their position filled through by-elections. a) By-elections shall be held at the next Assembly meeting following the notification that there is a vacancy on the Executive in accordance with C2. b) The Executive shall upon accepting the resignation of the Executive member shall send an email, fax or letter to all schools immediately advising all teachers of the vacancy. Any teacher can let their name stand at the next Assembly meeting and be elected to the Executive at that time. c) In the event that two or more teachers let their names stand then each teacher shall be given an opportunity to address Assembly for no longer than three minutes in order to campaign. d) Following the speech of each candidate the speaker shall arrange for the distribution of ballots to all the Assembly reps present and ask them to write the same number of names on the ballot as there are positions vacant. e) The speaker will then have the elections committee leave the room with the ballots and count them. In the event one of the elections committee is running for election then the speaker shall select a member(s) of the current Executive to count in their place. f) The candidate with the most votes shall be declared elected by the speaker and shall take their place on Executive immediately. If two or more positions are available on Executive then the candidates with the most votes shall be declared elected in the order of most votes. g) In the event of a tie vote steps d) e) and f) shall be repeated with only the names of the candidates tie being put forth. 11

Article IX COMMITTEES A. Membership 1. All members of the RPSTA shall have the opportunity and shall be encouraged to serve on committees established by the Assembly, Executive and/or the STF. 2. All members sitting on committees are governed by the RPSTA policy regarding teacher membership on committees 3. All RPSTA committees shall have a minimum of one Executive member. a) The President of the Association shall be an ex-officio member of all committees. 4. It is the responsibility of all committees to regularly report to Executive. B. Standing Committees 1. The Assembly shall establish standing committees as are deemed necessary for the operation of the Association. 2. The Association shall establish Standing Committees in the following areas: a) Teacher Welfare. Committees designed to promote and safeguard the interests of teachers and to secure conditions, which will make possible the best professional service. b) Professional Development Committees which provide opportunities for professional growth and/or provide resources that support teachers. c) Communications Committees developed to keep the Association membership and the public informed about education in general and about teachers concerns in particular. d) Short Term 12

Committees developed to deal with specific events, projects or issues with an anticipated working time of less than a half year. C. Ad Hoc Committees 1. The Assembly may establish Ad Hoc Committees as required for the benefit of the Association. D. Joint Committees 1. The Association may establish Joint Committees with outside organizations as deemed necessary. a. Joint Committees may be established with the approval of the Assembly. b. Joint Committees may be established through the bargaining and ratification process. E. LINC The Local Implementation and Negotiating committee shall negotiate collective agreements with the employers of the members of the local in accordance with the Education Act 1995. Article X Policy and Procedures Manual A The Association shall keep a Policy and Procedures manual that governs the specifics for each article of the constitution and how they shall be carried out. It further guides the Association in how to study and change the Association. B The policy and procedures manual can be amended, with prior written notice, at any Assembly meeting by a simple majority of the members present. Article X1 AMENDMENTS A. Notice of motion to amend this Constitution must be given orally and in writing at a regular meeting of the Assembly a minimum of at least one month prior to the vote being taken. 13

B. Amendments to the Constitution shall be voted upon at the following Assembly meeting. A two-thirds majority of Association members present shall be required for ratification of each amendment. Article X11 AUDIT A. The financial records of the Association shall be audited annually. B. An audited financial statement shall be presented at the Annual General Meeting. C. The Executive shall name an auditor annually. Article X111 Removal from Office A B C A member of the Executive may be removed from office for: 1) Subverting the goals of the organization. 2) Behaving in a manner unbecoming of the profession. 3) Failing to carry out the duties of the office. 4) Inexcusable non-attendance. To effect removal from the Executive the following steps are necessary: 1) A motion to consider officer removal is required at Executive. Eighty percent (80%) support of the RPSTA Executive members is required. 2) An affirmation of this step by a motion of removal at an Assembly meeting. One vote in excess of fifty percent (50%) of the quorum of the Assembly meeting indicated a majority vote that is a clear indication that the member is removed from office. The following conditions shall prevail in all such proceedings: 1) A notice of motion shall be presented at least three clear days ahead of the Assembly meeting to all teachers. 2) An opportunity shall be provided to the subject(s) representatives and to the mover of the motion to address both the Executive and the Assembly. 3) No motion of the Executive to remove from office shall stand for over thirty (30) days without the calling of an Assembly meeting. Article X1V Dissolution of the Local Association 14

A B C The local may be dissolved by a majority vote of the membership at a General Meeting at which one months notice has been given advising the membership of the intention to dissolve In the event the local is dissolved it shall be the responsibility of the Executive at the time of dissolution to dispose of the assets of the local through sale. The proceeds of the sale shall then be turned over to the STF for their use. The records and archival materials of the local shall become the property of the STF to do with as they see fit. 15

Glossary of Terms Assembly Assembly Meeting Associate Schools Association Board Constitution Councillors Education Centre General Meeting RPSTA RPSSTA Standing Committees STF Speaker of the Assembly RPSTA Representative Assembly A duly called meeting of the Assembly Independent/ Private Schools under the jurisdiction of the Regina School Division #4 RPSTA (Regina Public School Teachers Association) Regina School Division #4, its elected trustees, and administrative staff The belief statements of the Association Association members representing the RPSTA to the STF J. A. Burnett Education Centre A duly called meeting for all members of the Association Regina Public School Teachers Association Regina Public School Substitute Teachers Association Committees established to carry out business of the Association on an annual basis. Saskatchewan Teachers Federation Chairperson of the RPSTA Assembly System Regina School Division #4 16