Morrisville Youth Leadership Council By-Laws Article 1: Name Adopted July 10, 2017 The official name of the organization shall be the Morrisville Youth Leadership Council, hereinafter referred to as Youth Council. Article 2: Purpose The Youth Council shall provide youth in the Morrisville area with opportunities to develop leadership, teamwork and social skills by working together to plan and perform volunteer service projects and promote recreation activities. Article 3: Membership Membership in the Youth Council is open to all rising 6 th -12 th graders attending a public, private or home school in the Morrisville area. Rising high school seniors are not eligible to apply if they have not previously been a member for at least one year. The term of membership shall be from May 1 April 30. While new members may enroll at any time, all memberships will lapse as of April 30. Potential members must complete the application process: A. Potential members are encouraged to attend a Youth Council function prior to applying for membership. B. Potential members must complete and submit the official MYLC application form. C. Applicants must submit the $15.00 initial membership fee with their application. D. There is a yearly renewal fee of $5.00 for existing members that must be paid by the May general membership meeting. E. There will be no refunds for membership fees. Members in good standing shall have the right to vote on issues, vote in elections, and the right to propose, plan and implement a Youth Council endeavor. Membership may continue so long as the member continues to meet all service hour, attendance and code of ethics standards.
Article 4: Service Hours Members shall receive Youth Council service hours for attending and participating in Youth Council meetings and Youth Council approved activities. Service hours are earned based on the following standards: A. Service hours are on an hour-per-hour basis for time spent at a meeting or Youth Council approved activity. B. Members attending any meeting or function will receive one service hour if the activity takes less than an hour. C. Money Hours: Members may earn up to five (5) hours per year for acquiring donations or sponsorship funding. Hours will be earned at a rate of one hour per $20 in cash or equivalent cash value of services or supplies received by the Youth Council. Written receipts for the donation must include the name of donor to confirm the funding did not come from the Youth Council member in order to acquire additional hours. E. Leadership Hours: A member may earn an additional one (1) hour per event for serving as an event leader. The event leader will be responsible for tracking member attendance and guiding member activities. F. Outside Service Hours: Members may receive credit for up to five (5) service hours toward the 24 hour requirement per year for volunteer hours performed for activities not associated with MYLC. G. Presidential Service Award: Members age 11 to 15 may receive up to five (5) additional hours credit from other agencies toward the Presidential Service Award so long as the 24 hour MYLC requirement is met. Members age 16 to 18 may receive up to ten (10) additional hours credit from other agencies toward the Presidential Service Award so long as the 24 hour MYLC requirement is met. These hours must be confirmed, in writing, by the event coordinator and approved by the MYLC Executive Board. Members must accumulate a minimum of 24 service hours each year to remain an active member. Members enrolling during the year will have their minimum service hours prorated at a rate of two (2) hours per month. Members not meeting their minimum number of hours will have the unmet hours added to their required hours in the next membership year. As an example, if only 12 hours are worked in year one, the year two requirement would be 36 service hours. Any member not meeting the required hours for two consecutive years will be removed from the Youth Council. The Executive Board may assign a service hours value to the performance of a specific task that requires additional effort beyond time on site. As an example, members attending a Youth Council approved training may earn hours for travel time and not just time spent in classes. Service hours may be reduced for failure to meet Youth Council standards.
Article 5: Attendance Members are expected to attend monthly meetings and participate in community service activities, fundraisers, special events, and planned recreation activities. Members are allowed to miss no more than five (5) total general meetings in a membership year with no more than (3) absences from general meetings per each semester. The MYLC semesters shall be May through October and November to April. A member exceeding the allowed absences will be removed from the Youth Council. The Executive Board will designate some service events as mandatory Youth Council events. Any member not able to attend a mandatory event must give the Executive Board written notice (via email is acceptable) at least 48 hours in advance with an explanation of why they are unable to attend. Members that are absent without submitting a notice or those whose notice is not approved by the Executive Board will have their yearly service hours reduced by the number of hours they would have earned at the event. A member who signs up for an event that is not mandatory, but fails to attend, will have two (2) service hours deducted from their yearly total. Members are required to attend at least three (3) Town of Morrisville sponsored events during the year. Any member not able to attend a Town event must give the Executive Board written notice (via email is acceptable) at least 48 hours in advance with an explanation of why they are unable to attend. Members that are absent without submitting a notice will have their yearly service hours reduced by the number of hours they would have earned at the event. Members who have received an MYLC t-shirt are required to wear their MYLC t-shirt to Youth Council community service events. Any member not wearing the t-shirt will have one hour deducted from their yearly total. Article 6: Meetings The Youth Council will hold at least one general meeting per month, usually on the second Monday of every month unless that date is a holiday. The Executive Board shall present a yearly meeting schedule at the general meeting in June for approval by the membership. The Executive Board may cancel or reschedule meetings during the year to accommodate for weather or unforeseen circumstances, as needed. A quorum shall be defined as at least one more than half of the active membership that must be present at the general meeting in order to conduct official Youth Council business. At least one of either the Chair or Vice-chair must be present to conduct an official meeting of the Youth Council. All meetings shall be conducted using parliamentary procedure with Robert s Rules of Order as a general guideline. Most actions of the Youth Council shall require a simple majority vote of the quorum present at a meeting. Amendments to Youth Council bylaws
Section 8: shall require an affirmative vote by at least 2/3 of the quorum present at a meeting. A member arriving more than 15 minutes late to a meeting will only receive half of an hour (.5) credit for the meeting. Article 7: Election of Executive Board Section 8: Section 9: Section 10: Section 11: Elections will be held in April to select officers for the year. Newly elected officer will assume their duties in May. A quorum must be present at meeting for an election to be valid and elections shall be decided by a simple majority vote. Candidates for office may be nominated by another Youth Council member or a candidate may nominate themselves. A member must be in good standing to run for an office. Nominated candidates may have up to two (2) minutes before the vote to address the Youth Council. Written ballots will be used in the election. The number of service hours performed by the candidates shall be indicated on the ballot. The Executive Board officers not running for the office in question shall count the votes and the Chair or Vice-Chair shall announce the results to the Youth Council. The Chair of the Youth Council cannot vote unless there is a tie between the candidates. If a tie exists, the current Chair shall cast the deciding ballot. If the Chair is a candidate for a position, they may vote on that ballot. If a tie exists for that position, each candidate shall have up to two (2) minutes to address the Youth Council and a second vote shall be taken. If a tie exists after the second vote is taken, the adult advisors shall break the tie with a single deciding vote. A member must be present to vote for Officers. There will be no absentee ballots or votes allowed for elections. If a member is not present to address the Youth Council, they will not be eligible to run for that office. Article 8: Executive Board The Executive Board shall consist of officers elected by a vote of the Youth Council membership. The Executive Board shall be responsible for administering the affairs of the Youth Council for the benefit of all members and reporting to the Youth Council at the monthly meetings. The Executive Board may appoint committees to conduct specific activities for the Youth Council (advertising, recruitment, social functions, etc). An individual may serve no more than two terms in the same office. The Executive Board shall consist of the following offices: A. Chair: Shall be the official representative and spokesperson for the Youth Council to outside organizations and the public.
Shall preside over Youth Council meetings, Executive Board meetings and the election process and may call special meetings, if necessary. Shall have access to the website to edit content, when necessary. Must be in high school and a Youth Council member for at least two (2) years with at least one (1) year as a member of the Executive Board prior to election as Chair. In the event no prior Executive Board member is available to fill the role of Chair, eligible candidates must have served as an appointed committee leader or have attended at least four Executive Board meetings as an observer. B. Vice-Chair/Treasurer: Shall assume duties of the Chair in the absence of the Chair. Assists Chair with Youth Council administrative tasks. Shall be responsible for accounting for all funds raised, spent, or given to the Youth Council. Must be in high school and a Youth Council member for at least two (2) years prior to election. C. Secretary: Shall be responsible for keeping all records and communications with members of the Youth Council. Takes minutes during the Youth Council and Executive Board meetings and prepare written minutes for approval. Granted access to the website and may only edit content with the approval of the Executive Board. Must be in high school and a Youth Council member for at least one (1) year prior to election. D. Event Coordinator Shall be responsible for finding and organizing volunteer service opportunities and sharing information with Youth Council. Shall be responsible for confirming member event registration and attendance and tracking and recording Youth Council members service hours. Must record the volunteer hours for an event within one week after the hours are reported. Must be in high school and a Youth Council member for at least one (1) year prior to election. E. Publicity & Marketing Coordinator Shall be responsible for advertising, new member recruitment, sharing event information, and publicizing Youth Council affairs and events on Social Media. Must be in high school and a Youth Council member for at least one (1) year prior to election. If the Chair cannot fulfill his/her elected term, the Vice-Chair shall assume the duties of Chair until the Chair. If the Vice-Chair cannot fulfill his/her elected term, or must assume the vacant position of Chair, an election shall take place to fill the position of Vice-Chair at the next Youth Council meeting.
Section 8: Section 9: The Executive Board will meet at least once per month and usually on the first Monday of every month, unless that date is a holiday. The Executive Board officers may miss no more than four (4) Executive Board meetings in a membership year with no more than two (2) meetings absences in one semester and no more than two (2) consecutive meetings at any time. Article 9: Code of Ethics Section 8: Possession and/or consumption of illegal drugs or alcoholic beverages is not allowed during any Youth Council meetings or functions. Any member charged with a misdemeanor shall be placed on probationary status. If convicted of the misdemeanor, the member shall be removed from the Youth Council. If not convicted of the misdemeanor, full membership will be restored. Any member charged with or convicted of a felony shall immediately be removed from the Youth Council. If not convicted of a felony or related misdemeanor charge, membership may be restored by a unanimous vote of the Executive Board. Any member that is suspended from any school must immediately report the suspension to the Youth Council Chairperson and shall have their membership status suspended until returning to school. Any member who is expelled from any school must immediately report the expulsion to the Youth Council Chairperson and shall have membership status revoked. Members shall be respectful of other members and the organization and should refrain from any conduct that negatively impacts the function or reputation of the Youth Council. Membership status may be revoked for failure to meet this standard by a unanimous vote of the Executive Board. Membership status of a current member of the Executive Board may be revoked by a unanimous vote of the remainder of the Executive Board. If a member is subject to be removed from the Youth Council for any violation of these bylaws, they will be notified by a phone call and email by the Chair. Any member that has been removed from the Youth Council may request a hearing with the Executive Board to be given an opportunity to explain and justify their circumstances. After the hearing is complete, a vote will be taken by the Executive Board. The Executive Board may choose to place the member on a probationary status or to remove the member from the Youth Council. The vote must be a simple majority to pass. Article 10: Finances The Youth Council can receive and distribute funds to help carry out its basic purpose. These funds may not be used to benefit any member of the Council except for reimbursements for expenditures used in carrying out the Council s activities.
Funds may be used for Youth Council projects, publicity, and special programs for the Youth Council. The Youth Council may hold specific fundraising events for other non-profit organizations but may only provide funding to that organization up to the amount of the proceeds from that specific event. An adult advisor must approve all Youth Council expenditures. Article 11: Restrictions Youth Council members cannot be required to volunteer at programs/events that are for-profit. Participation at any events where alcohol is served is at the discretion of the Executive Board with consultation of the Youth Council members and the adult advisors. Article 12: Youth Council Adult Advisors The Executive Board may appoint volunteer adults to serve as advisors. Adult advisors shall not be a parent of an active member. Adult advisors must be at least 18 years of age and completed high school. These Bylaws adopted by vote of the membership on this the 10 th day of July, 2017. Aneesha Chakka, Chairman Yashmitha Lenin, Secretary