Bylaws
Article I: Name of Organization
The name of the organization shall be the Special Education Leadership Council of New Jersey (SELC)
Article II: Purpose of the SELC
The Special Education Leadership Council of New Jersey is a cooperative effort dedicated to empowering leaders of Special Education Parent Groups, enabling them to provide effective, quality, services and programs to their members and build new parent leaders within their groups. We will accomplish this by;
- Identifying and sharing best practices within parent support groups;
- Facilitating collaboration amongst leaders of the Special Education Parent Groups in New Jersey through the sharing of group newsletters, calendars, activities and speakers bureau information via internet-based electronic communications and quarterly meetings;
- Advocating for improvements in the New Jersey educational system;
- Seeking accountability from the local, state, and federal governments on matters related to education of students with disabilities.
Article III: Membership
General membership shall be open to all leaders of Special Education Parent Groups and people holding leadership roles in advocating for the rights of children with disabilities. However, advocates who are not Parent Group leaders and are also Teachers, School Administrators or Board of Education members will only be considered on a case-by-case basis determined by the Executive Board. All members must complete the List Serve membership application. The Membership Committee will compile and maintain the list of all members.
Only members present at SELC General Meetings will be able to vote on SELC business including the nomination and election of officers.
Article IV: Officers
Officers are elected by the voting membership and hold office for two years. The elected officers must be voting members. Any Vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired term by a person elected by the majority vote of the remaining members of the Executive Board. The Corresponding Secretary shall give 10 Days notice of such an election. If there is more than one candidate the vote shall be by ballot.
Executive Officers:
- President: The President is responsible for the following: (1) setting the agendas for the Executive Board and General Meetings (2) Leading Executive Board and General Meetings (3) meeting with the Director of the Office of Special Education Programming/Legislators/Other Organizations, etc… to further the mission of the SELC (5) public relations (6) Managing all data on systemic issues within member school districts.
- Vice-President: The Vice-President will assume any or all of the aforementioned responsibilities in the event the President is unable to do so. Additionally, the Vice-President must be available for consultation (in person, electronically or by phone) with the President on a regular basis. The Vice President is also responsible for following up with SELC Subcommittee Chairpersons to ensure Subcommittee Chairs submit their respective reports to the Executive Board. The Vice President is also responsible for managing the master calendar and the Speaker’s Bureau information.
- Recording Secretary: The Recording Secretary is responsible for: (1) taking the minutes of all Executive Board and General SELC Meetings (2) submitting minutes to the Executive Board for approval (3) disseminating the minutes as agreed upon by the Executive Board (4) Maintaining the By-Laws and Board Policies.
- Corresponding Secretary: The duties of the Corresponding Secretary include: (1) Draft all SELC correspondence not directly related to a specific area of responsibility of another Executive Board Member (2) submit drafts to the President for approval (3) distribute correspondences as agreed upon by the President.
Article V: Executive Board
- The Officers shall nominate candidates and then vote for the Chairs of the various subcommittees created by the Executive Board. Once selected Subcommittee Chairs become members of the Executive Board.
- Executive Board members have full voting privileges at all Executive Board meetings.
- All Executive Officers are members of the Executive Board. In addition all Chairman of Subcommittees are members of the Executive Board.
- Executive Officers will serve an initial two-year term without an election. After the first two-years Executive Officers will be voted for by the members of SELC in accordance with Article V. Elected officers cannot serve two consecutive terms in the same position.
Article VI: Nominations & Elections of Executive Officers
Section A:Nominations
- The Executive Board will select a Nominating Committee whose purpose is to select a slate of candidates whose purpose is to meet and vote and select a slate of nominees for Executive Officers to offer the general membership.
- The Nominating Committee must obtain written consent from candidates stating they are interested in a specific position.
- Once a full slate of candidates is set up then the President and Executive Board must be notified.
- The full slate of candidates must then be posted on the SELC website and posted on the SELC List Serve. The notice of the slate of candidates must occur at least 30 days prior to the General meeting.
- At the General meeting, nominations will also be accepted from the floor.
Section B:Elections
Elections shall be the first order of business during the May meeting. Elections shall be decided by a simple majority vote of the voting membership, subject to the presence of a quorum, in accordance with Article VI. The newly elected Officers shall take office as of the general meeting in September.
Section C:Quorum
Fifteen members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business in any general membership meeting.
Section D:Nominations From the Floor
All voting members are eligible to make nominations. Before the nominations, a volunteer will be recruited from the voting membership to serve temporarily as the Election Coordinator. This person will be decided by a lottery of volunteers, if there is more than one. The Election Coordinator will make all necessary arrangements for the election. Nominations are made by ballot.
Article VI: Meetings
General meetings of SELC shall be held quarterly, more often as warranted, from September through June. Notice of all general meetings dates shall be published on the SELC List Serve and website.
Executive Board meetings will be held at least monthly from September through June.
Article VII: Subcommittees
Subcommittees shall be created as deemed necessary by the Executive Board. Subcommittee participation is open to all general members.
Sub-committee chairs are responsible for periodically reporting on the activities of their sub-committee to the Executive Board.
Article VIII: Amendments
These by-laws may be amended by a 2/3 majority vote at a general meeting provided a quorum is present and the General membership has been given at least a thirty day notice of the amendment via the SELC Website and SELC Listserve.
Article IX: Rules of Order
Roberts Rules of Order are the default procedures for this organization.