PFA Operating Procedures

April 7^th, 2013

Roles and Responsibilities of PFA Executive

·         Chair

o   The chair shall be responsible for all correspondence associated with the PFA, including the maintenance of up to date records and reports, including both digital and hard copies of all minutes, agendas, reports and research garnered by the PFA.  This information will need to be available to any member of the PFA upon request within a reasonable time frame ie. One week.  Previous year’s records should be kept, bundled together, to act as reference for future events, fundraisers, and activities.

o   The chair shall act as the “voice” of the PFA, and its official contact unless this duty has been otherwise delegated based on a specific endeavor ie. Another member elected to act as a contact for the bottle drive.

o   The Chair shall present all members of the PFA executive, the Principal, and the chair of the School Council, a copy of each meeting’s agenda at least 24hrs prior to said meeting.

o   The Chair shall preside over all meetings

o   It will be assumed that the Chair is responsible for any duties not otherwise described herein, or within the Society’s Bylaws, or delegated to other members (hence the importance of clearly delegated duties).

o   The Chair shall oversee all delegated duties and shall be responsible for ensuring that they are performed in a timely fashion.

o   The Chair shall be responsible for providing a second signature on all cheques written on the PFA account.

·         Vice Chair

o   The Vice shall act in the Chair’s stead whenever the Chair is unavailable. 

o   The Vice shall keep themselves apprised of all matters pertaining to the PFA through steady and regular contact with the Chair and Executive

o   The Vice shall assume a leadership role in regards to duties which need to be delegated by the Chair.

·         Treasurer

o   The Treasurer shall be responsible for the financial records of the PFA.  This should include detailed records of all PFA activities and events, with an itemized breakdown of expenses and revenues.

o   The Treasurer shall be responsible for issuing all payments and reimbursements from the PFA account, in conjunction with the Chair’s second signature.

o   The Treasurer shall be responsible for holding any moneys prior to deposit.

o   The Treasurer shall be responsible for attending regularly scheduled PFA meetings with a brief report which shall include a current balance, and any recent transactions.

·         Event Coordinator

o   The EC shall be responsible for organizing any PFA sponsored events.

o   The EC’s responsibilities can include:

§  Creating a budget for the event

§  Soliciting and organizing the necessary volunteers

§  Gathering materials and supplies

§  Decorating the venue

§  Hiring and establishing a payment schedule for any entertainment

§  Determining the needs of the event ie. Lighting, music, etc.

§  Coordinating event cleanup

§  Coordinating all activities, and volunteers the day of.

o   Any of the EC’s responsibilities may be delegated to other members, however it shall be assumed that they are the EC’s responsibility unless overtly stated otherwise.

Policies and Procedures

·         Financial

o   All payments and reimbursements made by the PFA shall be made by cheque, signed at the time of by both the Chair and Treasurer, with a record of said payment noted in the financial records.

o   Neither the Treasurer nor the Chair shall ever sign a cheque that is not fully filled out ie. No blank cheques.

o   All cheques returned NSF shall be subject to a $7 processing charge.

o   Unless otherwise stated, all PFA funds will be split according to the following schedule:

§  Playground 50%

§  Resources and Equipment 25%

§  Student-only activities and subsidies 10%

§  Community events (Town and School community) 10%

§  Contingency Fund 5%

·         Communication

o   Communication with the MPES community shall be of utmost importance.  All members shall strive for thorough and respectful communication with the MPES community at large.  Official requests, concerns, and questions shall always be redirected to the Chair unless a separate member has been delegated. 

o   Meeting agendas shall be emailed within the week prior to any meeting to all members of the PFA executive, the Principal, and the Chair of the School Council.  They shall also be promptly and permanently affixed to the MPES Parents’ Group Facebook page as well as the MPES PFA Facebook page for all parents to see and comment on.  This shall be the responsibility of the Chair.

o   Meeting minutes shall be emailed within 7 business days of any meeting to all members of the PFA executive, the Principal, and the Chair of the School Council.  They will be posted for the remainder of the school year to the MPES Parents’ board next to the north entrance of the gym.  They shall also be promptly and permanently affixed to the MPES Parents’ Group Facebook page as well as the MPES PFA Facebook page for all parents to see and comment on.  The Secretary will be responsible for forwarding these minutes to the Chair, who shall then distribute them accordingly.

o   Materials that need to be sent home with students shall be provided to the school 5 business days prior to the date they need to be sent home.  Whether they need to be sent to all students or to “class reps” will need to be explicitly stated to office staff.

o   Any announcements sent home with students should also be posted online.

o   The PFA shall strive to enter a blurb in each monthly school newsletter.  The deadline for these entries will need to be confirmed with the Principal.

·         Partnerships

o   The PFA shall strive to maintain healthy and mutually beneficial relationships with the Principal, the School Council, the MPES Community, the Town of Morinville, and the community at large. 

o   The PFA and School Council shall have overlapping meetings on the same night with the Chair providing a brief report at the beginning of the Council meeting.

o   The PFA shall provide the School Council with an operating budget at the start of each school year.  This budget will cover any and all Council requests.  It shall be assumed that requests beyond this budget shall be dealt with by the Council itself.  The amount for this budget shall be voted on at the June meeting of the PFA for the following year.

o   Requests for PFA funds can be made by any group associated with MPES.  Requests are expected to be made either in person at monthly meetings after a request has been submitted to the Chair to be added to the agenda, or in writing.  All requests will be put to a vote, with any MPES parents and guardians welcome to enter their vote.  Results of the vote will be posted in the minutes.

o   Any concerns that do not directly relate to the PFA itself will be directed to the Principal ie. Receiving newsletters in time, concerns re: social media, etc.