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SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION CONSTITUTION

Our Parent-Teacher Association (SIS-PTA), formed in 1991, plays an active role in helping the school achieve its vision and mission. It encourages parents to participate in school activities, provides services such as lunch supervision, and assists in fund-raising. It also provides feedback on improving school services, for example, such as school bus transportation, uniforms and lunch.

1. NAME
The name of the association is “Singapore International School Parent Teacher Association” (the “Association”).



2. ADDRESS
As at the date of adoption of these Articles of Association, the address shall be 23 Nam Long Shan Road, Aberdeen , Hong Kong . The Committee shall be entitled, from time to time, to change the address of the Association provided that the Principal of the School also agrees.



3. OBJECTIVES (the “Objectives”)

(a) To promote a sense of community amongst teachers and parents/guardians and pupils.  
(b)To provide a forum for parents/guardians and teachers to exchange views for the overall benefit of pupils.
(c) To encourage parents to participate actively in school, programmes/activities.
(d) To make and receive donations and to assist in raising funds for school related purposes.
(e) To improve so far as possible services such as school bus transportation, uniforms and lunch to pupils and offer other services to pupils and offer other services to pupils whose parents are members of the Association.



4. POWERS

(a) The Association shall have such powers as are necessary or desirable for the fulfillment of the Objectives.
(b) The Association shall not attempt to interfere with the functions of the Principal in the internal management of the school.  



5. MEMBERSHIP

 (a)Categories of membership 
 There shall be the following classes of membership: 
 
(i) Ordinary Member 
(ii) Teaching Members 
(iii) Honorary Members 
(b)Eligibility and application for membeship(subject to sub-clause(c)). 
 
(i)Ordinary Members: Parents or guardians of pupils enrolled at the School are eligible for membership as eligible for membership as Ordinary Members and shall become Ordinary Members by paying to the Association the subscription pursuant to Article 6. Such subscriptions shall be made payable to the Association but shall be collected by the Honorary Treasurer or such other person as the Committee (as defined in Article 9(a)) designates.  
(ii) Teaching Members: Teaching staff of the School shall be Teaching Members of the Association by virtue of their appointment to the teaching posts, subject to clause 5c(ii). Their membership shall cease on termination of their appointment. No subscription shall be payable by a Teaching Member. 
(iii) Any person eligible to become either an Ordinary Member or a Teaching Member shall elect which he is to be but may not be both contemporaneously.
(iv) Honorary Members: Any person who is invited by the Association to be an Honorary Member and who accepts such invitation shall be an Honorary Member for such period as the Association shall decide. No subscription shall be payable by an Honorary Member.
(c)Cancellation of membership. 
 
(i) Ordinary Members: By a vote at a duly-constituted General Meeting of two-thirds of the Ordinary Members present an Ordinary Member may be declared no longer to be an Ordinary Member, and  
(ii) Teaching Members: By a vote at a duly-constituted Teachers' Meeting of two-thirds of the Teaching Members present a Teaching Members present a Teaching Member may be declared no longer to be a Teaching Member;  
(iii) Honorary Members: By a vote at a duly-constituted General Meeting of two-thirds of the total number of Ordinary Members and Teaching Members present an Honorary Member may be declared no longer to be an Honorary Member, and  
(iv) Any subscriptions paid by any Member shall be non-refundable.  
  





6. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION
The Committee (as defined in Article 9(a) ) shall determine the amount, timing and method of collection of subscription to be payable by Ordinary Members to the Association.



7. REGISTER OF MEMBERS
The Association shall keep a register of its Members with such details as Committee (as defined in Article 9(a)) may determine. Members shall be entitled to such information in the register in respect of themselves as the law may prescribe. All parents/guardians who wish to join the Association may be registered as members automatically and may attend all meetings, but they shall not have the right to vote thereat if any of their subscription monies have not been paid in full.



8. GENERAL MEETINGS

(a) The Annual General Meeting of the Association shall be convened each year during the first term of the academic year (from 1 st September to 31 st August). Members shall be notified in writing by the Honorary Secretary at least 7 days before the date of the meeting together with agenda for the meetings. 30 Ordinary Members shall form a quorum at any Annual General Meeting. If within 15 minutes of the time appointed for the meeting a quorum cannot be formed, the meeting shall the same day stand adjourned for a further 30 minutes but if at the adjourned time no quorum be present, the Members present shall have power to carry out the business for which the meeting was convened.  
(b) Upon the motion of the Committee or a written request signed by 35 Ordinary Members of the Association, the Chairman shall call an Extraordinary General Meeting within 30 days of that motion or on receipt of such request. The motion or request for calling an Extraordinary General Meeting shall specify the object for which meeting is to be called. Any discussion at an Extraordinary General Meeting will be strictly confined to the objects stated in the motion or request. The procedure for notifying Members and the composition of a quorum shall be the same as those for the Annual General Meeting.  
(c) At every General Meeting of the Association the chair shall be taken by the Chairman or, in his absence, by the Vice-Chairman or if he be absent, by a member of the Committee chosen by Members present. If no member of the Committee is present, the Members shall elect one of their own members as Chairman of the meeting.  
(d) A General Meeting shall transact the following businesses:  
 
(i) to raise any matter relating to the policy and the management of the Association;
(ii) to vote on amendments to the Constitution; and, in addition, an Annual General Meeting shall;
(iii) elect members of the Committee for the coming year;  
(iv) receive and if approved adopt the reports submitted by the outgoing Chairman and Honorary Treasurer;
(v) appoint an Honorary Auditor for the coming year; and  
(vi) consider and if necessary approve such other competent business as shall have been submitted to the Honorary Secretary not less then 14 days before the meeting.
(e) The business at an Annual General Meeting shall be confined to matters specified in the written agenda provided to Members in advance, except that amendments to motions on the agenda not being constitutional amendments may be considered with the consent of the majority of Members present at the meeting.  
(f) At all General Meetings of the Association, motions shall be confined forward by a simple majority of the voting Members present (save as hereinafter provided) and there shall be no proxy votes at any General Meeting. Each Member shall have one vote. A motion carried at a General Meeting is a resolution.
(g) Save as hereinafter provided voting shall be by a show of hands, unless at least 10 Members require a secret ballot.  
(h) Only Members shall have the right to speak and vote.  
(i) Procedure shall be according to the proper rules of debate.  
(j) In the case of an equality of votes on any issue the Chairman may at his discretion exercise a second or casting vote.
(k) Evidence of a declaration by the Chairman of a General Meeting that a motion has been carried or defeated, together with a minute to that effect duly confirmed, shall be conclusive.



9. COMMITTEE
(a) The management of the Association and the furtherance of the Objectives shall be vested in a General Committee (the “Committee”), which may delegate specific duties to Committee members and sub-committees.  
(b) The Committee shall consist of not more than fifteen members, appointed as follows: 
 
(i) There members of the Committee shall be appointed by the Principal of the School comprising the Principal or his deputy and two other Teachers.  
(ii) The remainder of the Committee shall be elected from Ordinary Members of the Association.  
(c) The members of the Committee (save and except those appointed under 9(b)(i)) shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting. At the Annual General Meeting subsequent to the Annual General Meeting at which they were elected, the majority of the longest serving members of the Committee (and in the case of an even number of members one half of such longest serving members) shall retire. Each such member is eligible for re-election. Members of the Committee shall not be entitled to receive remuneration in respect of their holding a position as a member of the Committee. If deemed necessary for the attainment of the Objectives by the Committee the Association may employ any persons and remunerate them for their services.
(d) Any two Members may propose in writing any Member as a candidate for election to the Committee to the Honorary Secretary not less than 7 days before the Annual General Meeting, such notice to be endorsed with the consent of the candidate. A Member may nominate as many candidates for election as there are places to be filled. Candidates for election shall have the right to address the Annual General Meeting.  
(e) Voting for the election of the Committee shall be by secret ballot. Each Member present may vote for any number of candidates up to the total number of vacancies, but may not cast more than one vote for each candidate. In the event of equality of voting the candidates affected shall draw lots to determine who shall be elected.  
(f) 

Immediately after the Annual General Meeting, all those members of the Committee present at the Annual General Meeting shall meet to elect from the members of the Committee the officers of the Association, who shall be:

Chairman (who cannot be a Member appointed under 9(b)(i))

Vice-Chairman

Honorary Secretary

Honorary Treasurer 

(g) The officers shall take office immediately and shall serve as such until the conclusion of the next following Annual General Meeting. Retiring officers shall be eligible for re-election as long as they remain Members of the Association. However, no member shall be elected for the post treasurer for more than 2 (two) consecutive years. 
(h) A Committee member or officer may resign his office at any time. Upon resignation, the Committee member or officer may remain as Member of the Association provided he is eligible under Clause 5(b).  
(i) The Committee shall meet not less than six times during the academic year and shall meet during the summer vacation so often as shall be necessary to conduct the business of the Association. The quorum for a meeting of the Committee shall be 50 percent for the time being of the members to include at least one member appointed under Clause 9(b)1. In the event that due to resignation or otherwise the total membership of the Committee becomes less than 7, the Committee shall meet only for the purpose of increasing its membership.  
(j) The Chairman shall preside at meetings of the Committee and in his absence, if present, the Vice-Chairman.  
(k) The Chairman may, and upon a request in writing signed by any two members of the Committee, shall, within 14 days, convene a meeting of the Committee.  
(l) In the event of a vacancy on the Committee arising at any time, the Committee may co-opt a Member to service until the next following Annual General Meeting. Such co-opted Member shall have the right to vote.  
(m) The Committee shall keep minutes of its meetings and of all resolutions approved in accordance with Clause 9(n) and Minutes of all General Meetings to be kept in books provided for the purpose and shall cause proper books of account to be kept and audited once in every financial year. The members of the Committee shall maintain strict confidentiality with regard to the business and deliberations of the Committee, provided always that any Member of the Association shall have the right to examine the confirmed minutes of Committee meetings.  
(n) All decisions of the Committee shall be taken by a majority of members present; in the event of the voting being equal the Chairman of the meeting shall having a casting vote. 
(o) A motion circulated in writing to all the members of the Committee then in Hong Kong and approved by them in writing shall be as effective as a resolution duly passed at a meeting of the Committee.  
(p) The Committee shall have the management of the Association and its funds subject to resolutions of a General Meeting, and shall have power to do all such things as they think necessary or desirable to carry out and further the Objectives of the Association. Every function organised by the Association must in its entirety be approved by the Committee.  
(q)The Committee shall have the power to create sub-committees to assume responsibility for specific matters and to appoint the chairman of such sub-committee members. A Committee member may serve on any sub-committee if he wishes.  
(r) The appointment of sub-committee members who are not already members of the Committee shall be by nomination, and shall be subject to approval by the Committee. Each Committee member may nominate ONE for any sub-committee.
(s) Sub-Committees shall meet as and when necessary for the conduct of their business and shall report at each meeting of the Sub-Committee on the business conducted since the last meeting of the Sub-Committee.
(t) The Committee shall not authorise expenditure which exceeds in total the cash reserves of the Association. In the event that the debts or liabilities of the Association exceed the funds of the Association the deficit shall be borne by a levy on each and every Member equivalent to the subscription to the Association.
(u) The Committee or any member thereof may be removed from office by a resolution of not less than 75 per cent of those Members present and voting at a General Meeting.
(v) A Committee member shall not vote in respect of any contract in which he is interested or any matter arising thereout, an if he does so vote his vote shall not be counted.



10. FINANCE AND ACCOUNTS
(a) The financial year of the Association shall be from 1 st September to 31st August. 
(b) The accounts of the Association shall be kept by the Honorary Treasurer, who shall receive all monies due to the Association. The Honorary Treasurer shall be responsible for payment of funds into a bank to be approved by the Committee. 
(c) The Honorary Treasurer shall prepare an annual statement of accounts and balance sheet on 31 st August in each year which shall after being audited by an auditor, be submitted to the Annual General Meeting of the Association.  
(d) Unless otherwise determined by the Committee, all cheques and other financial documents shall be signed on behalf of the Association by any two of the following persons: the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, the Honorary Secretary, the honorary Treasurer or by such other person as may be authorised by the Committee.  
(e) A good and sufficient discharge of a debt due to the Association shall be a receipt in the approved format of the Association and signed by a Member authorised to do so by the Committee.  
(f) All commitments on the payments from Association funds must have prior authorization from the Committee, and monies required by a sub-committees must first be approved by the Committee, provided always that the Committee may give a general authorization of expenditure up to an agreed limit.  



11. ALTERATION, ETC OF CONSTITUTION
Any alteration, amendment or addition to this constitution shall be subject to the approval of a General Meeting of the Association. A copy of the proposed amendment shall be sent to all members at least 21 days prior to such meeting. Two thirds of those members present and eligible to vote shall be necessary to approve such alteration amendment or addition.


12. PUBLICATIONS
The association may publish a newsletter or such other publication as the Committee deems fit.



13. DEBTS AND LIABILITIES, AND GOVERNING LAW
The debts and liabilities of the Association to persons other than members and this Constitution generally shall be governed by and construed in accordance with Hong Kong law, Provided that no Committee member or servant of the Association shall assume or be deemed to have assumed any additional liability by virtue of being a Committee member or servant, in the absence of fraud.


14. USE OF FUNDS
The funds of the Association shall be used in the furtherance of the Objectives of the Association.



15. DISSOLUTION
(a) The Association may be dissolved only a resolution of 75 percent of the Members present and voting at a General Meeting of which not less than 21 days' notice shall have been given.  
(b) Upon the dissolution of the Association the assets shall be disposed of in such manner consistent with the Objectives of the Association as shall be decided by the Members in General Meeting, provided always that none of the assets shall be distributed to any Member of the Association.  

16. AVAILABILITY OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE ASSOCIATION
(a) A copy of this Constitution shall be made available to each Member of the Association.
(b) If there is a difference of opinion arising over the interpretation of any Clause herein contained, the Committee's interpretation shall be definitive.