Friends of Hawthorne Standing Rules | Updated: Mar 1, 2022

1. The name of this PTA local unit is: Friends of Hawthorne PTA, local number 6.15.155. It was chartered on December 7th, 2011. Our National PTA local unit number is 640262. 510(c)(3) Tax ID 91-1459487.

2. This PTA serves the children in the Hawthorne school community, which includes the residences and businesses in the Hawthorne elementary school enrollment area. 

3. Membership at this PTA shall be open to all people without discrimination. Membership is open to all parents, teachers, staff, grandparents, guardians, community members and any other persons that support and encourage the purpose of PTA. Students of Hawthorne Elementary shall be considered honorary members of this unit without vote or privilege of holding office. 

4. The membership service fees for this PTA shall be Ten Dollars ($10.00) per person. Scholarships are available. 

5. The co-Treasurers are responsible for filing IRS Form 990, Form 990 EZ or Form 990-N prior to November 15th. Copies of the current and past years’ returns are located in the Legal Documents Binder maintained by the PTA Board. 

6. An officer (i.e., President or Treasurer) shall serve as the registered agent for the Friends of Hawthorne PTA and is responsible for providing that information, including a current mailing address, to the Washington Secretary of State’s Office, the Washington Department of Revenue, and the United States Internal Revenue Service. 

7. Elections shall take place by May 30th for the coming year. Voting for officers or nominating committee positions may take place at a meeting, by mail, or by electronic transmission. If voting takes place by mail or electronic transmission, the name of each candidate is to be contained in the notice of the meeting and any vote cast must be received within the time frame identified in the notice of the meeting. 

8. The elected officers, known as the executive committee, of this PTA shall include, at a minimum, President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Members at Large, including but not limited to Advocacy Coordinator and Volunteer Coordinator roles. 

9. Our PTA will make sure that each executive committee member attends a minimum of one WSPTA-approved training opportunity during the PTA year. Further, at least one member of the executive committee will attend PTA & the Law during the PTA year. 

10. The Board of Directors of this PTA shall consist of the elected officers and the chairs of all standing committees. This PTA’s Board of Directors will meet monthly on a date and time to be determined by the Board. 

11. General Membership meetings must be held a minimum of twice per year. Actions requiring a general membership vote shall pass on a simple majority vote of those PTA members in attendance at the meeting. 

12. Adoption of the budget, adoption of standing rules, election of the nominating committee, and election of officers shall take place at general membership meetings. There must be at least 10 members present in order to conduct business. Meetings shall be held at the direction of the Board of Directors. 

13. This PTA shall approve its annual operating budget prior to July 1st of each year. 

14. The Board of Directors has authority to reallocate up to $400 budgeted for one purpose to another purpose. If the request is greater than $400, it must be presented to the full PTA membership for a vote. 

15. This unit shall keep copies of each of its legal documents in a PTA binder and/or electronically on a cloud memory site (e.g., Google Drive or Dropbox). Legal documents include but are not limited to: 

a. A current copy of the PTA’s standing rules 

b. A copy of incorporation information and materials as follows 

i. PTA’s Articles of Incorporation, including any and all amendments; 

ii. Certificate of Incorporation, including any and all amendments; 

iii. Annual Corporation Renewal form for past 5 years and annual corporate reports. 

c. A copy of the Certificate of Insurance and insurance policy. 

d. A copy of any and all Hold Harmless Agreements. 

e. A copy of Charitable Solicitations Act information and material as follows: 

i. Copy of registration form; 

ii. Letter from Secretary of State acknowledging registration. 

f. PTA registration form for past 5 years. 

Bank account information: 

i. List of bank(s) where PTA has an account and account numbers; 

ii. A current list of authorized signatures and a list from previous 3 years; 

iii. Restricted donation agreements (i.e., grant agreements). 

g. A list of any equipment owned by the PTA. 

h. A copy of all current contracts in addition to all contracts signed by the PTA for the prior 3 years. 

i. Board meeting minutes. 

j. Copies of federal tax forms, including letter assigning EIN number and correspondence with AIM/IRS. 

k. Copy of WSPTA Uniform Bylaws; “PTA and the Law”, and “Money Matters.”. 

16. A financial review committee, minimum of three (3) members appointed by the President, will review the financial books twice a year. Members of this committee shall not include the Treasurer or any person authorized to sign on the PTA bank accounts for the period that is being reviewed or any individuals living in their households. 

17. The PTA shall establish one or more accounts in financial institutions as determined by the Board of Directors.  The President and Treasurers shall have signing authority on the PTA bank account(s). Passwords for these accounts shall be changed annually or when new roles are filled.

18. Two treasurers, with one as primary spender and one as reconciler, will be responsible for accounts payable and reconciliation. 

19. The PTA shall require the signature of two elected officers, in their capacity as PTA officers, on any and all legal documents and contracts. 

20. All reimbursement requests for authorized expenses must include a receipt and be submitted to the Treasurer within 60 days of purchase. All requests for reimbursement must be received by June 1st or they will be considered a donation to the PTA. 

21. Should the PTA receive a NSF (insufficient funds) check, or checks that are not paid by June 1st, the PTA will not accept any checks from this individual in the future. If more than 2 NSF checks are received from the same individual during the fiscal year, the PTA will not accept further checks from the individual responsible. 

22. Voting delegates to the Seattle PTA/PTSA Council shall be the president and up to three authorized delegates (See Article IV, Section 2 in PTA Uniform Bylaws). 

23. The vote for this unit for the service area vice-president shall be by Executive Committee action. 

24. The voting delegates to the annual State PTA Convention shall be elected according to the PTA Uniform Bylaws (Article XII, Section 2b). 

25. Voting delegates to the State PTA Legislative Assembly shall be the legislative chair unless otherwise designated by the PTA Board. 

26. The standing rules shall be amended and adopted by a majority vote of the PTA membership in attendance at a general meeting. 

27. These standing rules are used in conjunction, but not in conflict with the Uniform Bylaws from the Washington State PTA.