The Constitution of the Syracuse Junior/Senior High School Student Council 2018-2019
Table of Contents Preamble Article I. Name Article II. Purpose Article III. Membership Article IV. Elections for Officer Positions Article V. Elections for Class Representatives Article VI. Elections for At-Large Members Article VII. Campaigning Article VIII. Meetings Article IX. Limitation of Office Article X. Officers Article XI. Amending and Ratification Article XII. Committees Article XIII. Duties as a Member
Preamble The student council of Syracuse Junior/Senior High School shall be the main student government organization. It shall be a body to serve the Syracuse community with the intentions to engage our student population in activities and projects to promote school spirit, to unify the school and its organizations, and create a communication bond between the students and administration. Article I. Name The name of this organization shall be the Student Council of Syracuse Junior/Senior High School. Article II. Purpose The purpose of this organization shall be to assist with the extra-curricular activities of the school, carry out the ideas and wishes of the student body, assist the development of school spirit, start and finish projects that benefit the student body, establish inter-school relations, and to provide an example of democratic cooperative participation between faculty and students. Article III. Membership Section 1. The student council officer positions include: The President, The Vice-President, The Secretary, and The Media Director. Section 2. The student council class representative positions include: Two (or Three) 12th Grade Class Representatives, (Two or Three) 11th Grade Class Representatives, Two (or Three) 10th Grade Class Representatives, and Two (or Three) 9th Grade Class Representatives. Section 3. The student council at-large positions include any open positions after both officer and representative elections. The number of members must be kept between 10-20 members, including the four officer positions. At least one advisor shall be appointed by the principal.
Article IV. Elections for Officer Positions Section 1. Elections for officers shall take place in the fourth quarter, prior to the school year in which these officers will serve. Election days will be set by the standing president and the advisor, with approval of the building principal. If officer candidates do not win a position, he/she may run for a class representative position. Every candidate must have been in student council for at least one year before they can run for an officer position. The Presidents of all classes, clubs and other organizations shall be elected during class meeting the first day of the fall school year. Section 2. If a student council member is removed or drops from their position, he/she loses the right to run for any student council position for the duration of their high school career. Section 3. The elections of the officers shall be voted on by the current eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh grade students. Outgoing seniors will not vote. Section 4. The election to an officer position shall take place in a three-step process. The three steps shall include the following and be based out of a 100-point scale: 1. Step One: Application All applicants are required to fill out an application consisting of short responses and questions concerning student council involvement. All applications will be examined and scored by a committee of teachers, an administrator, and an outgoing student council member. Two (2) letters of recommendation from an adult who works at USD 494. Each application can score up to 30 points. 2. Step Two: Interview Each applicant is required to be interviewed by the committee mentioned above. Interviews will be conducted during the fourth quarter. The interview can be scored up to 35 points. 3. Step Three: Popular Vote Each candidate will be pooled together with every applicant for that specific position. Candidates will be voted on by the current eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades. 12th graders will have no say. The vote is worth up to 35 points and will be determined by point percentage. If a student has 10% of the vote, then he/she will receive 3.5 points The candidate with the highest overall point total will be appointed to the position he/she has applied for.
Section 5. If any of the officers don t enroll in Syracuse Public Schools or drop the position between the election and the start of the next school year, a special election shall be held no later than the second Friday after the opening of the school term. The new officer shall be elected by the same method as was used in the spring. Section 6. Speeches for the President, Vice President, Secretary, and Media Director will be delivered to the high school student body on election day. Section 7. Voting must take place immediately after the speeches of candidates. Article V. Elections for Class Representatives Section 1. Elections for representatives shall take place in the fourth quarter, prior to the school year in which these representatives will serve. Section 2. In order to run as a class representative, that candidate must maintain a 3.0 GPA. It must be upheld or that representative will be dismissed from the council. Section 3. If a student council member is removed or drops from their position, he/she loses the right to run for any student council position for the duration of their high school career. Section 4. The elections of the officers shall be voted on by the current eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh graders. Seniors will not vote. Section 4. The election to a class representative position shall take place in a two-step process. The two steps shall include the following and be based out of a 100-point scale: 1. Step One: Application All applicants are required to fill out an application consisting of short responses and questions concerning student council involvement. One letter of recommendation from an adult who works at USD 494. Each application can score up to 55 points. 2. Step Two: Popular Vote Each candidate will be pooled together with every applicant for that specific position. Candidates will be voted on by the current eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades. 12th graders will have no say. The vote is worth up to 45 points and will be determined by point percentage.
If a student has 10% of the vote, then he/she will receive 4.5 points The candidate with the highest overall point total will be appointed to the position he/she has applied for. Section 5. Each representative must have attended one semester of school at Syracuse High School. Section 6. All candidates have the option of making a speech on election day. Section 7. Voting must take place immediately after the speeches of candidates. Article VI. Elections for At-Large Members Section 1. Elections for representatives shall take place in the fourth quarter, prior to the school year in which these representatives will serve. Section 2. At-large members may only apply if they went through the class representative or officer candidate process. Article VII. Campaigning Section 1. No handouts, flyers, toys, candy, etc. will be tolerated. Section 2. All campaigning will be positive and only for the candidate. Negative campaigning will result in disqualification. Section 3. All promotional posters must be removed from the school the day of the election. Section 4. All rules must be followed or the candidate will be disqualified at the advisor s discretion.
Article VIII. Meetings Section 1. The student council shall meet during the designated meeting hour, before school, or during lunch. Section 2. Special meetings may be called by the president, officers, the advisor, or the principal. Notice is not required if it is held during school hours. If a meeting is held before or after school, one (1) day s notice is required. Section 3. All legally elected members may vote. Section 4. The Student Council shall meet every second Wednesday and/or whenever the officers or advisor deems necessary. Article IX. Limitation of Office Section 1. Any student in Syracuse Junior-Senior High School may hold only one major office. A major office is defined as the president, vice-president, or secretary of any class, club, or other organization. National Honor Society is exempt from this article. Article X. Officers Section 1: All officers must meet the following requirements: must be a junior or senior at Syracuse High School during the current school year; must have been a representative in student council for at least one (1) year; must have and maintain a 3.0 GPA. All officers are encouraged to attend StuCo Camp in Emporia during the summer. Section 2. The president shall have the power to: call and preside at all meetings; give information and recommendations; appoint committees subject to the approval of the sponsor; vote in case of a tie; coordinate items with the administration; set agenda for each meeting; work with media director to maintain social media accounts; work with advisor and vice president to make decisions; other duties as needs arise. Section 3: The vice-president shall have the power to: preside at meetings in the absence of the President; be responsible seeing that all committees function properly and that committee reports
are given; be parliamentarian of each meeting; assist the president as needed; keep records of disciplinary refractions. Section 4: The secretary shall have the power to: preside at meetings in the absence of the President; keep minutes and records of all meetings, and immediately upload them to the Google Drive; file all documents, letters, and other records; keep record of attendance; write all correspondence authorized by the President; responsible for calendars; writing morning announcements and sending thank you notes. Section 5: The media director shall have the power to: run PA systems for all assemblies and events that require one; publicize all student council events (bulletin board, Twitter, Snapchat, etc.); develop flyers and posters; work with yearbook and local newspaper to record and publicize student council activities; work with the President to maintain social media accounts; communicate with the student body. Article XI. Amending and Ratification Section 1: Any member of Student Council may propose an amendment to this Constitution. Section 2: In order to pass an amendment to this constitution, it shall be necessary to have a two-thirds vote of Student council and two-thirds vote of the student body. Section 3: This Constitution shall require a vote of the current student council officers and the building principal for ratification. Section 4: The Principal of Syracuse Junior-Senior High School shall have the power of absolute veto over any act of the Student Council at all times. Section: All meetings should be conducted according to the accepted rules of parliamentary procedure. Article XII. Committees Section 1. Committees shall be formed as deemed necessary. The standing committees include: 1. Bonding: plan and execute at least one student council bonding event each nine weeks.
2. Community service: plan and execute at least one student council service event each nine weeks. 3. Dance: oversee the planning and execution of student council dances; responsibilities include: DJs, decorations, food, etc. Section 2. One student will be appointed as chairman for each of the standing committees to serve as leaders. The advisor and officers will determine the chairmen in a meeting before the school year begins. Section 3. Committees should remain closed for student council members; however, participation from various clubs may prove useful and necessary when headed by a student council member/advisor. Article XIII. Duties as a Member Section 1. Every member must dress accordingly for all school spirit days. Section 2. Every member must bring assigned items or sell all assigned items by the due date. Section 3. Every member must attend on time and remain until the end of all student council events. A student may be excused if the sponsor is notified at least one (1) day in advance. Students with emergencies will be excused at the advisor s discretion. Section 4. In order to stay in student council, each member must have and be able to maintain a 3.0 GPA. Representatives will be removed from student council if unable to uphold the GPA. Section 5. Duties in student council include all of the events listed on the application. Section 6. Members are held accountable in order to ensure an adequate performance. Disciplinary infractions are defined as unexcused absence from meetings or failing to complete assigned tasks. Each unexcused absence from a meeting will account as a disciplinary infraction. Acquiring four (4) disciplinary infractions will lead to instant dismissal from student council. Missing more than four (4) meetings, excused or unexcused, will result in dismissal from student council. The Vice President will be responsible for keeping track of all infractions. Last amended in March 2018.