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CHANDLER EDUCATION ASSOCIATION (CEA)

CONSTITUTION

(REVISED APRIL 2007)

ARTICLE I NAME

The name of this Association shall be the Chandler Education Association.

ARTICLE II PURPOSE

The purpose of this Association is to be involved in all aspects of the educational process and anadvocate for its members and the issues that affect them.

ARTICLE III MEMBERSHIP

Section 1: All certified employees of the Chandler Public Schools may become activemembers of the Association upon payment of dues to the Chandler Education,Arizona Education Association, and National Education Association.

Section 2: The membership year shall be from September 1 through August 31.

Section 3: Membership shall be continuing unless written notification is given to themembership chair by September 1 of the current school year.

ARTICLE IV OFFICERS

The Officers of the Association shall consist of a President, four Co-Vice Presidents, a RecordingSecretary, a Corresponding Secretary, and a Treasurer.

ARTICLE V EXECUTIVE BOARD

The Executive Board shall consist of the Officers and the Immediate Past President.

ARTICLE VI DUTIES OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD

The Executive Board shall consist of the Officers and the Immediate Past President.

Section 1: President

The President shall preside over meetings of the Executive Board, theRepresentative Council, and the General Membership; appoint the chairperson ofall standing committees and special committees with the approval of theExecutive Board; and shall be a member ex-officio of all appointed committees.The President shall be the Executive Officer of the Association and shall performall other functions usually attributed to this office, including signing vouchers.

Section 2: Co-Vice Presidents

The Vice Presidents shall serve as the Governing Board Liaison;oversee area ofresponsibility,maintain communication between the Association and the Board;and any other duties assigned by the President.

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Section 3: Immediate Past President

The Immediate Past President shall advise the Executive Board and assist thePresident at the latters request.

Section 4: Secretaries

a. Recording Secretary

The Recording Secretary shall keep accurate minutes of all the ExecutiveBoard, Representative Council and General Membership meetings; shallmaintain the official files; distribute minutes to all members of theRepresentative Council within ten days following the previously namedmeetings; and distribute copies of all proposed amendments to theConstitution.

b. Corresponding Secretary

The Corresponding Secretary shall be responsible for handling allcorrespondence for the Association as directed by the President andExecutive Board and shall notify the appropriate members as to the time andplace of the Executive Board, Representative Council, and GeneralMembership meetings at least seven calendar days prior to the meetings.

Section 5: Treasurer

The Treasurer shall receive all funds of the Association and disburse them uponthe authorization of the Executive Board; sign all vouchers; keep accurateaccounts of all receipts and disbursements; make regular financial reports to theRepresentative Council; prepare an annual financial state for publication to theGeneral Membership and assist in the initial drafting of the budget.

Section 6: Regular attendance at meetings shall be required of all Officers. After two (2)

unexcused absences, the Executive Board by a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote,shall declare the position vacant.

Section 7: All retiring Officers shall deliver to incoming Officers all money, accounts, recordbooks, papers, files and other property belonging to the Association.

ARTICLE VI BUILDING REPRESENTATIVES

Section 1: The Building Representatives are elected by Association members of eachbuilding site to serve on the Representative Council.

Section 2: Duties of the Building Representatives are:a. Assist with membership

b. Communicationsc. Referralsd. Conduct electionse. Attend Representative Council Meetingsf. Hold monthly building meetings at lease one week after the meeting of the

Representative Council.

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ARTICLE VII REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL

Section 1: The Representative Council shall consist of the Officers and the BuildingRepresentatives.

Section 2: The Association shall guarantee ethnic minority representation on its

Representative Council at least proportionate to its active ethnic minoritymembership.

Section 3: The Representative Council shall also include proportionate representationbetween classroom teachers and administrator members based on theirmembership in the Association.

ARTICLE VIII DUTIES OF THE REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL

Section 1: The Representation Council shall:a. approve the budget.b. act on reports of committees,c. establish the policies of the Association.

d. Adopt rules for governing the conduct of meetings as are consistent withthis Constitution and Bylaws.

Section 2: Powers not delegated to the Executive Board, the Officers or other groups in theAssociation shall be vested in the Representative Council.

Section 3: Regular attendance at meetings shall be required of all Officers and BuildingRepresentatives. After two (2) unexcused absences the Representative Councilby a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote shall declare the position vacant.

ARTICLE X TERMS AND SUCCESSION

Section 1: Terms for Officers shall be for two (2) years. Officers may be elected for only two(2) consecutive terms.The President, two Co- Vice Presidents, and the Corresponding Secretary will beelected on even years.The other two Co- Vice Presidents.Reporting Secretary, and Treasurer will beelected on odd years.Building Representatives may be elected for succeeding terms for one (1) year.

Section 2: When the office of President becomes vacant between elections, an emergencyelection will be held to determine which Vice President shall succeed.

Section 3: When the offices of both the President and one of the Vice Presidents becomevacant between elections, the remaining members of the Representative Councilshall choose two of their number to serve as Vice Presidents pro-tempore untila General Election can be held to fill the vacancies.

Section 4: Vacancies in the offices of the Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary orTreasurer will be filled by presidential appointment with approval of theRepresentative Council.

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ARTICLE XI COMMITTEES

Section 1. The President may appoint the following committees:a) Membership

b) Communicationsc) Political Actiond) Grievancee) Socialf) Scholarshipg) Researchh) Bargainingi) Constitution

j) Crisisk) Elections/Nominations

Section 2: Each committee shall keep a continuing record of activities. Chairmen shallreport to the Representative Council as requested and shall prepare an annualreport summarizing the committees work, gains made, and suggestions forfuture action.

ARTICLE XII NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS

Section 1: The one person - one vote principle for representation on governing bodies shallbe observed in all elections. All elections shall be conducted with opennominations and a secret ballot. Secret ballots may come in the form of paper, orvia a secure electronic system.

Section 2: Officers

a: Officers shall be nominated by the membership at large. The list ofnominees shall be determined by the nominations received from the

membership. The three members receiving the greatest number ofnominations for each office shall appear on the ballot.

b: The Committee shall distribute, via hard copy or electronically, the list ofnominees to the General Membership one week prior to the election. Thenominees shall be listed in alphabetical order under each office and eachnominees building assignment shall be indicated. The committee shallprepare a printed ballot, conduct the election, tabulate the votes, andreport the results to the Representative Council within three (3) schooldays following the election. Results shall be published and distributed toall members via hard copy or electronically. Ballots may be distributedvia hard copy or electronically, as determined by the executivecommittee. A member may request to vote using a hard copy ballot any

time electronic balloting is being implemented.

c: The general elections for Officers shall be held during the month of April,the exact date to be determined by the Representative Council. Newlyelected Officers shall be introduced at the annual recognition dinner andwill assume office at the end of the current school year.

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Section 2: Building Representatives

a: Each building unit shall be entitled to one (1) Representative for each ten(10) members or major fraction thereof.

b: The election of Building Representatives shall be held in the respective

building no later than the week following the election of Officers and shallbe conducted by the current Representatives. Results shall be reportedto the President prior to introduction of Officers.

Section 3: Delegates to Professional OrganizationsElection of all delegates to NEA and AEA Representative Assemblies shall beconducted by the Election Committee as directed by the President and theRepresentative Council.

Section 4: Election of Officers shall be decided by a majority vote and all other electionsshall be decided by plurality vote. In the event that no candidate for a specificoffice receives a majority/plurality, another election shall be held and the run offballot shall list the two (2) unsuccessful candidates who received the highest

number of votes in the previous election.

ARTICLE XIII MEETINGS

Section 1: General Membership meetings shall be held at least once during the school year.

Section 2: Representative Council meetings shall be held at least once a month. Theweekday of the regular monthly meeting shall be determined at the first meetingof the Representative Council following the installation of Officers in May. One-third (1/3) of the total number of the Representative Council shall constitute aquorum for the purpose of conducting business.

Section 3: Any member of the Association who is not a member of the RepresentativeCouncil may attend its meetings and receive permission to speak.

Section 4: Special meetings of the General Membership, the Executive Board,Representative Council may be called by the President or by written petition offifty (50) or more members.

Section 5 Executive Board meetings shall be held at least once a month, prior to theRepresentative Council meeting, for the purpose of setting the agenda for theRepresentative Council meeting. Any member may submit agenda items.

ARTICLE XIV DUES

Section 1: The dues of the Association shall be set annually by the representative council atits last regularly scheduled meeting of the year. A proposal to change the dueswill be publicized to the general membership a minimum of one month before thevote is to take place at the last regularly scheduled meeting of the year.

ARTICLE XV RULES OF ORDER

Section 1: The parliamentary authority of this Association shall be Roberts Rules of Order,Revised.

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Section 2: Each member shall be guaranteed due process, No member shall be fined,suspended, expelled or otherwise disciplined except for non-payment of dueswithout being served with specific written charges and given full due process:rights including an administrative hearing before the Representative Council.

ARTICLE XVI AMENDMENTS

Section 1: The Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds (2/3) majority of thosemembers voting at a general meeting or by two-thirds (2/3) majority of membersvoting at all buildings. The Representative Council shall designate whichprocedure of voting shall be used.

Section 2: A proposed amendment must be submitted in writing to the representativeCouncil before being presented to the General Membership.

Section 3: A copy of the proposed amendment shall be given to each member ten (10)school days prior to the day designated for voting on the amendment.

Section 4: The proposed amendment, as well as the original statement in the Constitution,shall appear on the ballot.

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CEA 2005