5 Membership fees
5.1 The amount of annual membership fees are proposed by the Executive Committee and approved at General Meeting. The first PTA membership fee is HK$20. The proceeds from this will be spent on all the expenses of the Association, such as printing, stationery, papers as well as organizing, subsidizing activities supported or organized by the Association.
5.2 No refund is made if the member resigns within a year.
5.3 Parent members have to pay membership fee annually, which is based on a family as a unit. The fee must be paid before October. Apart from the first PTA, the school year is from 1st September to 31st August.
5.4 Ex-Officio Member, Ex-Officio Consultant, Honorary Member and Honorary Consultant shall be permanently exempted from paying the annual membership fee.
6. Organization
6.1 The General Meeting shall be the highest authority of the Association which is formed by all of the members. During recess, the Executive Committee is responsible for all the PTA matters.
6.2 The Executive Committee should consist of no less than 13 or more than 15 members. And there must be one more parent member than teacher member in the Committee.
6.3 Two parent alternate members.
6.4 Members of the Executive Committee include:
6.4.1 One Ex-Officio Consultant (Principal)
6.4.2 One Chairperson (Parent)
6.4.3 One Vice-chairperson (Teacher)
6.4.4 One Secretary (Teacher/Parent)
6.4.5 One Treasurer (Teacher)
6.4.6 One Auditor (Parent)
6.4.7 Two General Duty (Teacher/Parent)
6.4.8 Three Member Services (2 parents and 1 teacher)
6.4.9 Maximum two Culture and Recreation (Teacher/Parent)
6.4.10 Maximum two Public Relations (Teacher/Parent)
7. Executive Committee Members election
7.1 Parent Members are elected from Annual Meeting with the highest votes. If the number of candidates does not exceed the number required, the candidates will be appointed automatically.
7.2 Alternate Parent Members are elected during Annual Meeting. Candidate who gets the second highest votes during each annual meeting will be appointed.
7.3 The election format is determined by the Executive Committee or Election Working Team.
7.4 Teacher Members are elected by teachers or appointed by the principal.
7.5 The Executive Committee positions are elected by Executive Committee members.
7.6 If there is any vacancy within a year, it will be filling by the alternate member first. If there is still extra vacancy, the Executive Committee shall have the right to assign a PTA member as a committee member.
7.7 Handover between old and new Executive Committee members should be done within 30 days after the election of new members at General Meeting.
8. Period of service of Executive Committee Members
8.1 The period of service for the Parent Members is one year. It can be continued but he or she shall not hold office for more than 3 consecutive terms.
8.2 The period of service for the Teacher Members is one year. It can be continued without limit.
8.3 The first Executive Committee Members' period of service ends on 31st August 2002. Apart from the first PTA, each subsequent period will be one year. The period is from 1st September until 31st August (next year).The members can participate in following year's election. No more extension is allowed.
9. Obligations of Executive Committee and its Members
9.1 Executive Committee is responsible for convening the General Meeting.
9.2 The work of Executive Committee is on a voluntary basis. Therefore, members should not receive any remuneration.
9.3 Executive Committee has the right to appoint sub-committees for planning and implementing specific activities. The sub-committee will be automatically dissolved upon completion of the activity.
9.4 Chairperson
9.4.1 Convene and chair the General Meeting, special general meetings and Executive Committee meetings.
9.4.2 Implement the agreement achieved at General Meeting and Executive Committee meetings, provide guidance for each working groups.
9.4.3 Care for all affairs of the Association and sign for relevant documents.
9.4.4 Represent parents to give advice to the school. However, the ultimate authority cannot exceed the Principal or The Education Bureau.
9.5 Vice-chairperson
9.5.1 Assist the Chairperson to carry out the Association duties. Substitute for the Chairperson when he or she is absent.
9.6 Secretary
9.6.1 Take up recording and all clerical works. Assist the Chairperson in preparing the agenda for the meetings, take the minutes of the meetings, deal with internal and external clerical work and keep records.
9.7 Treasurer
9.7.1 Keep the account balance of membership fees, income and expenditure of the Association. Report to the Executive Committee during each meeting and also print out the financial statement for the annual general meeting. Approval from the Executive Committee and hence from the General Meeting is required.
9.8 Audit
9.8.1 Audit all of the running balances.
9.9 General Duty
9.9.1 Handle purchase of supplies, decorate venue, print reports and assist other affairs.
9.10 Member Services
9.10.1 Contact parents.
9.10.2 Encourage parents to be members of the Association.
9.10.3 Handle membership registration and keep records for the Secretary.
9.11 Culture and Recreation
9.11.1 Plan and implement all kinds of social, recreational, academic and experience sharing activities.
9.12 Public Relations
9.12.1 Contact external organizations and promote the Association in order to deepen their understanding about the Association.
10. Meeting
10.1 Annual General Meeting
10.1.1 Annual General Meeting agenda
10.1.1.1 Elect Executive Committee Members and alternate members.
10.1.1.2 Adopt the financial report of the Association.
10.1.1.3 Review and adopt the annual report which is prepared by the Executive Committee.
10.1.1.4 Approve the membership fee for the coming year.
10.1.2 Annual General Meeting should be held between May and June each year.
10.1.3 The quorum of the Annual General Meeting should be 30% of the total amount of the members.
10.1.4 Secretary is required to send a written notice with the agenda to the members two weeks in advance in order to remind them to attend the General Meeting.
10.1.5 The Annual General Meeting will be hosted by the Chairperson. If the Chairperson is absent, the Vice-Chairperson will substitute for the post.
10.1.6 During the Annual General Meeting, Chairperson and Treasurer should introduce the annual report and financial report respectively.
10.1.7 All the approved resolution during the Annual General Meeting should not violate the Association's vision.
10.1.8 If the attendance of the Annual General Meeting cannot fulfill the quorum, the Executive Committee will be required to convene second General Meeting within a month. Notice should be given to all members 7 days in advance. The second meeting, regardless of size, shall be effective.
10.1.9 A resolution shall be passed by a majority of not less than half of the Members. The Chairperson has the casting vote if equal votes are found.
10.2 Special Members Meeting
10.2.1 Special Members Meeting can be called by the Executive Committee, or upon a written request with signatures of more than 30% of the total members to the Chairperson. After the Chairperson receives the request, a meeting shall be organized accordingly within 30 days. The meeting will only discuss and vote on the matter which is specified in the signed letter. The quorum and the method to inform members to attend the meeting are the same as the Annual General Meeting's.
10.3 Executive Committee
10.3.1 There are no less than 4 Executive Committee meeting per year. If any members have 2 consecutive absents without any reason, his duty will be automatically abolished. His or her post is substituted by Alternate Executive Committee Member.
10.3.2 The quorum of the every Executive Committee Meeting should not less than half of the total amount of committees. If necessary, Chairperson and more than half of the committees can organize a Special Executive Committee Meeting.
11. Finance
11.1 Members must pay their annual membership fee before the end of October each year. Any fee paid to the Association shall not be refunded.
11.2 The amount of annual membership fee for each year is determined by Executive Committee, subject to the approval at General Meeting.
11.3 All grants, funds and membership fee must be deposited at the designated bank account by the Executive Committee.
11.4 All of the Association's cheques must be signed by Chairperson or assigned parent member and Vice-Chairperson or Treasurer.
11.5 The Executive Committee will have the right to use the funds, in furtherance of the aims of the Association, or donate sums from the Association's funds to the School for the purpose of granting scholarships, prizes or other purposes.
11.6 All Association's revenue and expenditure will be properly handled by the Treasury.
11.7 The Auditor shall audit the income and expenditure account of the Association at least once in each Financial Year.
11.8 Deficit balance should not be made annually.
11.9 In case of debt or legal liability, the Executive Committee should explain at the Special General Meeting for collective inquiry and collective responsibility.
11.10 All of the Association's revenue (including membership fee and contributions received) can only be used for the Association's developmental and administrative purposes.
11.11 The Treasurer shall report the financial status of the Association at each Executive Committee meeting and prepare income-expenditure balance sheet for every financial year. Having been audited by the Honorary Auditor, the financial report should be submitted to the Executive Committee and hence General Meeting for approval.
11.12 The Treasurer shall retain all of the revenue and expenditure receipts for seven years for auditing. Receipts with more than seven years can be scrapped. However, the account books shall be kept permanently.
12. Dissolution of the Association and Amendments to the Constitution:
12.1 If PTA's activities or measures are contrary to the purposes of the school vision and mission, The school's Incorporated Management Committee has the right to dissolve the Association.
12.2 The dissolution of the Executive Committee due to any other reasons requires a signed request by more than 50% of all members and hence approved by two-third of the members at the General Meeting.
12.3 The dissolution of the Association due to any other reasons requires a signed request by more than 75% of all members and hence approved by two-third of the members at the General Meeting.
12.4 During the dissolution of the Association, all surplus assets should be transferred to Incorporated Management Committee. However, the asset should be used in accordance with the purpose of the Association.
12.5 Amendments to the Constitution must be raised by the Executive Committee or a signed request by more than 75% of all members. The quorum of the meeting is 50% of all members. If aborted, it will hold the second Amendments to the Constitution Meeting. The quorum reduces to 30% of all members. If the number of participants is less than the quorum, the Amendments to the Constitution Meeting will terminate immediately. The item amended from the Constitution will be effective if it is approved by two-third of the members who attend the meeting.
13. Supplementary
13.1 The Association will never interfere with the school administration.
13.2 The matters discussed by the Association and activities organized do not contravene the laws of Hong Kong and the Education Ordinance
13.3 The Association will ignore complaints which are about the dispute between parents, members and staffs.
13.4 The Association accepts donations for PTA's development but retains the rights of disapproval.
