Summit Academy
Charter Trust Land Council
Bylaws
I. Duties and Responsibilities. The Charter Trust Land Council (hereafter referred to as the “Council”) is responsible for the following:
A. Review academic data and identify the most critical academic needs of the school.
B. Consult on the Teacher and Student Success Plan and the School Improvement Plan. The Council will evaluate how the previous year’s funds were used and suggest goals for future allocation of funds.
C. Prepare an action plan called a “School LAND Trust Plan” (LAND stands for “Learning and Nurturing Development; hereafter referred to as “the Plan”) to address the needs and meet the goals identified.
1. The Plan will identify the appropriate expenditures. (See Utah Code 53G-7-1206 4(a) and State Board Rule R277-477-4 (1) and (2).)
2. The goals and expenditures must match.
3. The LAND Trust funds do not all have to be spent each year; however, the complete use of funds each year is recommended.
D. Submit the Plan for the upcoming school year and the Progress Report for the current school year on the USBE School LAND Trust website when due.
E. Monitor implementation of the Plan to ensure its success and provide ongoing support in implementation of approved plans.
F. Amend the Plan during the year if the needs and goals are not being met or if they are adjusted.
G. Give input on the following plans. The LAND Trust funds may not be used for these plans. This Council is not responsible for the structure or implementation of these plans.
1. School Safety Plan.
2. Safe Technology and Digital Citizenship Plan.
3. Positive Behaviors Plan.
4. Child Access Routing Plan (53G-4-402 (17)(a-d)).
H. Advise and recommend Summit Academy and LEA administrators regarding the school and its programs (i.e., the school attendance policy, school breakfast) relating to the students’ school environment.
II. Meetings.
A. At least two meetings will be held during the school year.
B. During meetings, minutes will be reviewed and then approved.
C. Each meeting in which there is a new Council member, the rules and guidelines will be reviewed and discussed if needed.
D. Meetings will be posted one week in advance and will include an agenda (with action items identified) and minutes of the prior meeting.
III. Membership. The Council is comprised of both school employees and non-employee parents of enrolled students.
A. There will be six to eight members of the Trust Land Council.
B. School Employees
1. The principal of the school is required to be on the Council and is one of two or more school employees on the Council.
2. Additional school employees are nominated for the Council from the employees of the school. See section IV. below.
3. If a vacancy occurs mid-term within the school employees for any reason, the Council shall seek nominations from the school staff and a replacement shall be appointed by the Council to finish the term.
C. Non-employee Parents
1. A minimum of four non-employee parents of enrolled students are nominated for the Council by the parents of enrolled students at the school. See section V. below.
2. There must be two more non-employee parents than school employees on the Council.
3. If a vacancy occurs mid-term within the parent group for any reason, the Council shall seek nominations from the parents of enrolled students and a replacement shall be appointed by the Council to finish the term.
D. Only one member from a household shall be on the Council at one time unless there is not enough parent interest, in which case the Council will vote to make an exception.
E. Terms
1. Each member of the Council serves a two-year term with the exception of the principal who must serve regardless of terms.
2. Terms are staggered so that approximately half the non-employee parents of enrolled students on the Council are elected every two years.
3. A school employee or non-employee parent council member may only serve two consecutive terms on the Council with the following exceptions: see sections III.B.1., IV.D., and V.E.
F. If a member is absent from two consecutive meetings, the Chair will notify the member that if the member does not attend the next meeting, the Council will consider the seat vacant.
IV. Election of School Employee Council Members.
A. When a vacancy occurs with a school employee member position, the Council takes nominations from current employees of the school.
B. The Council will take nominations for new school employee members between April 1 and April 30 of each year. The election will take place by the third week in May.
C. The school principal will be responsible for ensuring the school employees know about the vacancy/ies on the Council, the nomination process including the dates, and the election process at least 10 days prior to commencement of voting.
D. If no school employee candidates volunteer or there are not enough volunteer candidates to fill open spots, the principal will nominate at least two candidates per open spot and then the employees will vote.
E. The election will follow the ranked-choice process described below in section VII.
V. Election of Non-Employee Parent Council Members.
A. When a vacancy occurs with a non-employee parent member position, the Council takes nominations from parents of current students of the school.
1. Nominated parents shall not be licensed employees of the school.
2. Employee parents may participate in the vote for non-employee parents.
B. The Council will take nominations for new non-employee parent members between April 1 and April 30 of each year. The election will take place by the third week in May.
C. The school principal will be responsible for ensuring the parent community knows about the vacancy/ies on the Council, the nomination process including the dates, and the election process at least 10 days prior to commencement of voting.
D. If no parent candidates are nominated or there are not enough candidates to fill open spots, the candidates will be appointed by the Council and may include current Council members who are willing to extend to another term.
E. The election will follow the ranked-choice process described below in section VII.
VI. Election of Council Chair and Vice Chair.
A. The Council shall elect from its members a Chair and Vice Chair in its January meeting of every odd calendar year.
B. The Council Chair and Vice Chair must be non-employee parents.
C. Council Chair and Vice Chair serve one-year terms.
D. The Council Vice Chair, assisted by current Council members, shall oversee leadership elections.
1. The Vice Chair shall contact each Council member to
a. Inquire as to their willingness or desire to serve as Council Chair or Vice Chair.
b. Accept their nomination(s) by other Council member(s) to serve as Chair or Vice Chair.
2. The election will follow the ranked-choice process described below in section VII.
E. In the event the current Chair vacates his/her position prior to the end of his/her term, the Vice Chair shall assume the position of Chair to finish the term.
F. In the event the current Vice Chair vacates his/her position prior to the end of his/her term, the Council shall elect one of its members to finish the term. The election process will follow the same ranked-choice procedures outlined in section VII below, with the exception that the replacement election may occur at any official and duly noted Council meeting at which at least a majority of the remaining Council is present.
VII. Ranked-choice Voting. The ranked-choice voting process unfolds as follows for single-winner elections including open seats and leadership positions:
A. Voters rank the candidates for an open seat or leadership position by preference on their ballots.
B. If a candidate wins an outright majority of first-preference votes (i.e., 50 percent plus one), s/he or she will be declared the winner.
C. If, on the other hand, no candidate wins an outright majority of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated.
D. All first-preference votes for the failed candidate are eliminated, lifting the second-preference choices indicated on those ballots.
E. A new tally is conducted to determine whether any candidate has won an outright majority of the adjusted voters.
F. The process is repeated until a candidate wins a majority of votes cast.
G. In the event that more than one Council seat or leadership position is open, only one election will be held.
1. When the results are tallied, the first seat will go to the candidate who wins based on the ranked-choice process described above. Then the winner's name will be removed from the original voting data file as if that person had not been a candidate.
2. The election is tallied again to get a second winner.
3. This process will continue for each open seat or position until all seats and positions have been filled.
VIII. Trust Land Council Assurances to the Summit Academy Board of Directors.
A. By October 20, a list of Trust Land Council members with contact information and evidence of USBE LAND Trust training will be provided to the Board.
B. Before any USBE deadline, all reports due will be provided to the Board for approval. These include budgets, justification of spending, and other related data.
IX. Website Requirements. The following will be hosted on the school’s website:
A. Always updated for the year (by October 20) and following each meeting (see 53G-7-1203(6) and (R277-491-4(2)):
1. Council members’ names and contact information.
2. A proposed meeting schedule for the school year.
3. A report on how the School LAND Trust funds were used in the prior year and what was accomplished for students.
4. Approved Council minutes for the current school year.
5. The Teacher and Student Success Plan (53G-7-1304).
6. Opportunities provided to parents by serving on the Trust Land Council and how parents can directly influence the expenditure of School LAND Trust funds.
7. The dollar amount received by the school each year through the program.
8. The Rules of Order (section X) and Rules of Procedure (section XI).
B. At least one week before each Trust Land Council meeting (53G-7-1203(5)):
1. Notice of the time, place, and date of the meeting.
2. The meeting agenda.
3. Draft minutes of the previous meeting.
X. Rules of Order. To promote ethical behavior and civil discourse each Council member shall:
A. Attend Council meetings on time and be prepared.
B. Make decisions with the needs of students as the main objective.
C. Listen to and value diverse opinions.
D. Act with integrity.
XI. Rules of Procedure.
A. All meetings are open to the public.
B. Council meeting agendas
1. Should include:
a. Notice to the public of the topics that will be considered.
b. Items to be voted on.
c. The draft minutes of the prior Council meeting to be approved.
d. The date, time, and location of the meeting.
2. Must, at least one week in advance of the meeting, be:
a. Made available to all Council members.
b. Posted on the school website.
c. Made available in the main office.
C. Written minutes of all Council meetings should be kept and include:
1. Date, time and place of the meeting.
2. Names of members present and absent.
3. A brief statement of matters proposed, discussed, or decided.
4. A record, by individual member, of each vote taken.
5. The name of each person who:
a. Is not a member of the council, and
b. After being recognized by the Chair, provided testimony or comments to the Council.
6. The substance, in brief, of the testimony or comments to the Council.
7. Any other information that is a record of the proceedings of the meeting that any member requests be entered into the minutes.
D. The Chair conducts the meetings, makes assignments and requests reports on assignments. In the absence of the Chair, the Vice-Chair shall conduct meetings.
E. The Council must have a quorum to vote. A quorum is equal to a majority of Council members.
F. Meetings shall be conducted and action taken according to very simplified rules of parliamentary procedure. Council actions will be taken by motions and voting with motions and votes recorded in the minutes.
Independence
