Constitution
ARTICLE I:
Name
The name of this Association shall be The New Horizons Regional Education Center, and it shall exist pursuant to the terms of the Agreement dated January 1, 1994, executed by School Boards of the County of Gloucester, City of Hampton, City of Newport News, the City of Poquoson, the City of Williamsburg and James City County and the County of York, Virginia (“Agreement”) which shall be authorized by their respective governing bodies, and which Agreement is entered into by the aforesaid school boards for the purpose of jointly operating a regional education school.
ARTICLE II:
Purpose
The purpose of this Association shall be to operate the New Horizons Regional Education Center (the Center) under the control of the New Horizons Regional Education Center Association (the Association). This Association shall be a non-profit, unincorporated association and it shall operate the Center as an education program.
ARTICLE III:
Membership of Association
The membership of this Association shall be composed of the School Boards of the City of Hampton, the City of Newport News, the City of Poquoson, the School Board of Williamsburg-James City County, the County of Gloucester, the County of York and the School Boards of such other school divisions in the Peninsula area who join the Association pursuant to the terms set forth herein.
ARTICLE IV:
Governing Body
The governing body of this Association shall be a Board of Trustees composed of members of the School Boards which are members of this Association.
- Each School Board which is a party of the Agreement and a member of the Association shall be entitled to have one (1) representative to serve as an alternate. The alternate member for a Board may be the superintendent of such school division or the superintendent’s designee.
- Annually, each member shall be selected for a term of one year. There shall be no restriction on the number of terms a Trustee may serve.
- A majority of the Board of Trustees shall constitute a quorum at any meeting and a majority of those present shall be necessary for a decision.
- The powers of the Board of Trustees shall be those delineated in the Agreement by which this Association was formed, or any amended thereto.
ARTICLE V:
Selection of Officers and Duties
- The Board of Trustees shall elect from its membership a Chairman and Vice-Chairman, who shall serve a term of one (1) year and who may be re-elected. There is no limit on the number of terms the Chairman or the Vice-Chairman may serve.
- The Chairman shall preside over all meetings of the Board of Trustees, he or she shall see that all orders and resolutions are carried out and he or she shall have the general powers and duties of supervision usually vested in the office of a Chairman of a School Board of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
- The Vice-Chairman shall perform the duties and exercise the powers of Chairman during the absence or disability of the Chairman.
- In the event the Chairman or the Vice-Chairman resigns, at the next regular meeting of the Board the presiding officer shall declare the position vacant and shall call for an election to fill the remainder of the term. If the presiding officer is nominated to the vacant office, he or she shall relinquish
- The chair to another Board member during said election.
- The Board of Trustees shall elect a Clerk who shall not be a member of the Board of Trustees and who shall keep a record of all proceedings of the Board of Trustees. He or she shall be the Custodian of all records of the Association, and he or she shall send out all notices required by the Constitution or By-Laws of the Association. The compensation of the Clerks shall be fixed by the Board of Trustees and the Clerk shall execute bond with surety approved by the Board of Trustees in such amount as the Board of Trustees may fix conditioned upon the faithful performance of his or her duties as Clerk.
- The Treasurer of the city or the Treasurer of the county in which the administrative office of the joint school is located shall be the fiscal agent of the association and shall receive the revenues thereof, unless the Board of Trustees by a two-thirds vote of Board members present and voting, approve a resolution designating a new fiscal agent who must be the Treasurer of a city or Treasurer of the county in which a joint school facility is located. All disbursements there from shall be by warrant signed by the Chairman and the Clerk of the association and countersigned by the Treasurer as fiscal agent. The said Treasurer shall supervise and be responsible for all expenditures to insure that budget appropriations are not exceeded. The Board of Trustees shall, through its fiscal agent, make arrangements for safe depository of the funds of the association and, where necessary, require sufficient collateral be provided by banking institutions to properly secure such funds.
- The Chairman of the Board of Trustees shall appoint such committees as it deems practicable in the operation of the Activities of the Association.
- A superintendent-in-charge shall be designated by the Board. He or she shall be the superintendent of one of the participating school divisions and shall hold office for Twenty-four (24) months beginning July 1. This responsibility shall be rotated among all divisions on a regular schedule.
ARTICLE VI:
New Members
School Boards of other school divisions in the Peninsula area may become members of the Association by filing a written request with the Clerk of the Board of Trustees and sending a copy thereof to the Clerk of each School Board which is a member of the Association. For admission an applicant must receive the affirmative vote of three quarters of the members of the Board present and voting at a regularly scheduled meeting of the Board. Any applicant which becomes a member of the Association under this article shall complete all requirements as stated in the Agreement.
ARTICLE VII:
Amendment
This Constitution may be amended at any regular or special meeting of the Board of Trustees by an affirmative vote of three-fourths of the members of the Board of Trustees, provided that ten (10) days written notice of any proposed amendment shall be given to all members of the Board of Trustees by letter mailed to their usual place of business or residence.
Approved by Board of Trustees 9/22/98:
R. Page Minter, Chair
Joyce M. Turner, Clerk
BY-LAWS:
Section 1: Regular meetings of the Board of Trustees shall be held at such times and places as shall be designated by the Board.
Section 2: The Board of Trustees shall hold an annual meeting during the month of July of each year for the purpose of electing officers and delegating duties for the forthcoming year.
Section 3: Special meetings of the Board of Trustees may be held on the call of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, or by the written request of a majority of the members of the Board of Trustees. At least twenty-four (24) hours written notice of such meeting must be given to each Trustee, which notice shall be served personally or left at his usual place of business or residence. The notice shall contain a statement of the purpose or purposes of the special meeting. A meeting may be held without notice, provided all members of the Board of Trustees attend and the minutes of the meeting so reflect.
Section 4: At least one (1) week prior to a meeting, other than a special meeting, notice of the time and place of such meeting shall be given by letter to all the Trustees, mailed to their usual place of business or residence.
Section 5: Decisions on real estate and property investment matters shall be made by votes weighted in accordance with the percent of each members’ property ownership in the affected property.
Section 6: Robert’s Rules of Order shall govern the procedure of all meetings.
Section 7: These By-Laws may be amended, altered, added to or repealed by an affirmative vote of three-fourths of the members of the Board of Trustees.
Revised by Board of Trustees 9/22/98:
R. Page Minter, Chair
Joyce M. Turner, Clerk