BYLAWS and standing rules

BYlAWS and Standing Rules

Bylaws are designed to help your PTA function in an orderly manner. They are the guidelines for how your organization should function, such as:

Membership Dues
Meeting Dates for the Executive Board and Association
Elected Officers
Nominating Committee
Meeting Quorum - officers required to conduct business
Check signers

The only official set of PTA bylaws for any PTA is:

An original approved current set of bylaws, signed and dated by the state parliamentarian, PTA Unit President and Secretary
On file with the unit PTA secretary.

A copy of the current ByLaws should be provided to all officers and board members.

Each executive board member is responsible for reading and studying them thoroughly to completely understand how YOUR unit should function.

Standing Rules

Standing rules outline the procedures of the organization that are not included in the bylaws and must not conflict with the bylaws or the California State PTA Toolkit.

Standing Rules may be changed or amended without notice with a two-thirds (2/3rd) majority vote of the association, or a majority vote with thirty (30) days’ notice.

ByLaws at a Glance

Bylaws and Standing Rules Quick Glance Guide (2).pdf

ByLaws

State when the meetings of the association are held.
Give the primary responsibilities of officers and chairmen
The bylaws describe the authority of committees.

STanding Rules

Tell where and what time association meetings are held, and when executive board meetings are held.
Give the specifics
Standing rules indicate which committees are standing committees whose chairmen are voting members of the executive board and which committees are special committees, whose chairmen do not have executive board voting privileges and to which executive board member they report.
If the organization has supplies or equipment, the standing rules would state who is responsible for them and where they would be kept.
They might also list details of the installation of officers, and who has responsibility for securing the past president’s pin.

How to Update Your Unit Bylaws

STEP 1

Unit President Appoints bylaws committee, chaired by parliamentarian

STEP 2

The parliamentarian sets a meeting date for the bylaws committee to:

Review your current Bylaws before meeting
Provide copies of current Bylaws for each bylaws committee member

STEP 3

The Bylaws Committee:

Review current Bylaws to see if any changes are necessary
Lists proposed amendments, including article, section, and page number on the ByLaws Submittal Form

STEP 4

The parliamentarian:

Requests a blank fillable ByLaws PDF along with a By Laws Submittal Form, from their council.
Completes the blank fillable bylaws PDF.
Downloads and prints a copy of the updated bylaws with amendments, if any.

STEP 5

The parliamentarian:

Presents updated Bylaws with proposed amendments at a board meeting or recommends no changes.
Board votes to approve
Secretary records outcome in Minutes

STEP 6

The parliamentarian sends the approved ByLaws PDF along with the submittal form, to their Council Parliamentarian.

The Council Parliamentarian will forward the amended ByLaws and the submittal form to the Fourth District PTA parliamentarian for review and State PTA Submission.

STEP 6

The State PTA Parliamentarian will review the ByLaws amendments and either accept the changes or send them back with suggested corrections. Once approved, they will be signed and returned to the Fourth District PTA Parliamentarian who will return them to Council.

STEP 7

The Council Parliamentarian will return them to the unit and

Did You Know?

Unit, council or district bylaws should NOT be scanned or posted on any publically-accessible website.
Bylaws always include officer signatures, which must be protected from inappropriate use.
Bylaws should be reviewed annually and updated every FIVE years by the bylaws committee of the association, chaired by the parliamentarian.
See CAPTA.org for much more information on bylaws

Fourth District ByLaws Page

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