Bylaws of Elkhart and St. Joseph Counties Head Start Consortium (Click to Expand)
ARTICLE I
NAME The name of this entity shall be the Head Start Consortium.
ARTICLE II
INTERLOCAL AGREEMENTThe Head Start Consortium is formed and operates under an Interlocal Agreement pursuant to Indiana Code § 36-1-7, et seq., and any amendments thereto. A true and accurate copy of the Interlocal Agreement is attached hereto.
ARTICLE III
PURPOSEThe fundamental purposes for which the Head Start Consortium is formed and structured are as follows:
- To develop, operate, participate in, and supervise a Head Start Program which will serve the student population of Elkhart and St. Joseph Counties, Indiana.
- To provide facilities, staff, equipment, supplies, and services for the development and implementation of the Head Start Program.
ARTICLE IV
MEMBERSMembers of the Head Start Consortium are the following school corporations existing under the laws of the State of Indiana and located in Elkhart and St. Joseph counties: Baugo School Corporation, (“Baugo”), the Concord Community School Corporation (“Concord”), Elkhart Community Schools (“Elkhart”), the Goshen Community School Corporation (“Goshen”), the John Glenn School Corporation (“John Glenn”), the Middlebury Community School Corporation (“Middlebury”), School City of Mishawaka (“Mishawaka”), the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation (“Penn-Harris-Madison”), the South Bend Community School Corporation (“SBCSC”), Wa-Nee Community Schools (“Wa-Nee”), Union-North United School Corporation (“Union-North”), (sometimes hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Participating Corporations”).
ARTICLE V
JOINT BOARD OF DIRECTORSSection 1
Number and Term of Directors: The business affairs and property of the Head Start Consortium shall be managed by a Joint Board of Directors (sometimes referred to as the “Joint Board”) consisting of the superintendent of each of the Participating Corporations. Each Participating School Corporation shall have one representative on the Joint Board.
Section 2
Vacancies: Any vacancy on the Joint Board shall be filled by the Participating Corporation whose lack of representation caused the vacancy.
ARTICLE VI
MEETINGS OF THE JOINT BOARD OF DIRECTORSSection 1
Organizational Meeting: The Joint Board of Directors shall hold its organizational meeting at its first meeting of its fiscal year.
Section 2
Regular Meetings: The Joint Board of Directors shall meet bi-monthly at a time and place designated by the Directors.
Section 3
Special Meetings: Special meetings may be called by the President of the Joint Board of Directors or by the Executive Director, or by fifty percent (50%) of the Joint Board Directors.
Section 4
Notice of Meeting: Notice of any regular or special meeting of the Joint Board of Directors shall be given by regular or electronic mail or by telephone a minimum of three days prior to the meeting, except in cases of emergency. Special emergency meetings may be called on forty-eight (48) hour notice by the President of the Board or the Executive Director.
Section 5
Quorum: At all meetings of the Board of Directors, the presence in person of not less than one-half (1/2) of the Superintendents is requisite and shall constitute a quorum. Any action by a majority of Superintendents where a quorum is present shall be the action of the Directors of the Head Start Consortium, except that no action shall be taken with an affirmative vote of less than one-third (1/3) of the Joint Board Directors.
ARTICLE VII
OFFICERSSection 1
President of the Joint Board: The Joint Board shall elect a President annually at its organizational meeting. A person elected President of the Joint Board shall hold office for a term of one (1) year and until his or her successor shall be elected, or until his or her earlier resignation, removal or disqualification. A person elected president may not serve more than two successive terms. The President shall serve without compensation for his or her services.
- Duties. The President of the Joint Board shall preside at all meetings of the Joint Board of Directors. That person shall have the general powers and duties of management usually vested in the office of President or Chairman of a Board of Directors and such other powers and duties as may be prescribed by the Joint Board of Directors.
- Removal and Resignation. The President may be removed by a vote of two-thirds of the entire membership of the Board of Directors at any regular or special meeting of the Board called for that purpose. The President may resign by giving written notice to the Board of Directors.
Section 2
Vice President: The Joint Board shall also elect a Vice-President annually at its organizational meeting. A person elected Vice-President of the Joint Board shall hold office for a term of one (1) year and until his or her successor shall be elected, or until his or her earlier resignation, removal or disqualification. A person elected vice-president may not serve more than two successive terms, but may be elected to the office of President. The Vice-President shall serve without compensation for his or her services. The Vice President shall act as President in the absence of the President and, when so acting, shall have all the authority and powers of the President.
Section 3
Executive Director: The Joint Board of Directors shall employ an Executive Director who shall be directly responsible to the Board of Directors through the President of the Board. The Executive Director shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the Head Start Consortium responsible for: (1) the planning and daily activities of the Head Start Consortium in accordance with the policies of the Board; (2) making recommendations in the hiring, supervising and discharging all employees; (3) the preparation of an operating budget covering all activities of Head Start Consortium, subject to Board approval; (4) all expenditures within approved budget allocation; (5) preparation of financial and Head Start Consortium reports; and, (6) implementation of policies and procedures mandated by the Joint Board, the United States Government, or the State of Indiana. The Executive Director, or her designee, shall serve as Secretary to the Joint Board, and is also a member of all committees of the Head Start Consortium.
Section 4
Fiscal Agent/Treasurer:The Fiscal Agent shall be one of the Participating Corporations pursuant to Ind. Code § 36-1-7, et seq. and shall serve as Treasurer of the Head Start Consortium. The Fiscal Agent shall have the duty of receiving, disbursing and accounting for all funds received by the Head Start Consortium. The Participating Corporations, through the Interlocal Agreement, designated the South Bend Community School Corporation (“SBCSC”) to serve as the initial Fiscal Agent for the Head Start Consortium. SBCSC shall continue to serve as Fiscal Agent until either: (1) the Joint Board, through a 2/3 majority vote of the Participating Members, designates a different Fiscal Agent; or (2) the SBCSC tenders its resignation as Fiscal Agent, at which time, the Joint Board shall designate a new Fiscal Agent by simple majority vote.
Section 5
Vacancies: Except as provided for above, a vacancy in any office caused by death, resignation, removal from office, disqualification, or any other cause shall be filled by the Board of Directors.
ARTICLE VIII
COMMITTEES
The President of the Board, with the approval of the Joint Board of Directors, may from time to time appoint such committees as may be deemed necessary to carry out the business of the Head Start Consortium.
ARTICLE IX
GOVERNING BOARD RESPONSIBILITIES
The governing board will fulfill its responsibilities according to HHS Performance standards for oversight, shared decision making & communication.
Funding Responsibilities
- The Governing Board will be responsible for all Funding applications, and proper appropriations. Funding applications are submitted to the Governing Board for review and/or amended for approval.
- The Governing Board and Staff will assist in this process to ensure that funds set aside from program budgets are used to support parent activities.
- The financial records of the Head Start Consortium shall be audited as required by the governing regulations of the Head Start Grant. A report of the audit shall be provided to each of the Participating School Corporations. Every officer and employee of the Head Start Consortium shall be bonded for the faithful performance of that person’s duties.
Governance Responsibilities
- The Governing Board members will receive governance training, concerning shared decision making and roles and responsibilities, in special session(s) of board meetings or in conjunction with the parents.
- The Governing Board will establish a structure to provide for shared decision making for parents of Head Start children. Procedures describing how the governing body and appropriate policy group will implement shared decision-making shall be defined in the Rules of Operation.
Communication Responsibilities
- The Governing Board, Management Staff and Policy Council will utilize the Community Assessment (CA) to develop procedures for program planning.
- A liaison from the Governing Board and the Policy Council will be appointed/selected or elected to attend reciprocating meetings.
- Head Start Staff will develop the Community Comment process in accordance with the performance standards. The Governing Board will review, adjust, approve/disapprove said policy. Community Comment Procedure will be defined in Rules of Operation.
- Impasse Procedure will be developed by the Governing Board and management staff with input from Policy Council. Approval/disapproval will be done by both the Governing Board and Policy Council. Once completed the procedure will be included in the Rules of Operation. The procedure will be reviewed annually to determine its viability.
- Board Members will assist with making information available about their local school corporations via meetings, sub meetings, and local news items developed within their school corporations.
Assessing and Planning Responsibilities
- The Governing Board, Key Management Staff, and Policy Council (each comprising their own team) will receive training concerning the value, intent, and method of the Annual self-assessment, audit and review of Elkhart & St. Joseph Counties Head Start Consortium. Each team will participate in the self-assessment process respectively. Findings resulting from the assessment, review or audit will be addressed by developing and implementing systematic program planning procedures which will address each concern of the programmatic and fiscal intent of the grant application. Plans, goals and philosophy will be addressed.
- The Governing Board, Policy Council, and key Management staff will work in conjunction to plan for the future improvement of Head Start. The philosophy and long- and short-range goals and objectives will be reviewed and adjusted through a strategic plan developed after attaining the results of Self-Assessment/Peer Review.
Oversight Responsibilities
- Governing Board will review and approve/disapprove all hiring and terminations.
- Governing Board shall review, interview and approve/disapprove qualified candidates for the Head Start Executive Director. Qualified candidates shall also be interviewed by the Executive Committee of the Policy Council so that recommendations may be made to the whole Policy Council for approval/disapproval for hiring.
- Governing Board shall review and approve/disapprove the termination of the Head Start Executive Director. The Executive Committee of the Policy Council will review the concerns and recommendations of the Governing Board and make recommendations to the whole Policy Council for approval/disapproval of termination.
- Personnel Policies will be submitted to the Governing Board and the Policy Council, respectfully, for their review and approval or disapproval.
ARTICLE X
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/NON-DISCRIMINATION
It is the policy of the Head Start Consortium to actively promote the economic, social, and educational equity of all persons, including that of its employees, and the people it serves; to hire well-qualified people to perform the task necessary to achieve its objectives efficiently and at reasonable costs; and to comply both with the letter and the spirit of the federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, creed, color, age, national origin, or disability. The Consortium’s activities, both in providing services to the community, as well as in employment practices, including recruitment, hiring, transfer, promotion, training, compensation, benefits, layoffs, and terminations will actively and aggressively promote this policy.
ARTICLE XI
INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS
Every person who was, is now or hereafter shall be a Director or Officer of the Head Start Consortium, and that person’s heirs and personal representatives, shall be indemnified by the Consortium against all costs, expenses and amounts or liability therefore, including counsel fees, reasonable incurred by or imposed upon that person in connection with or resulting from any action, suit, proceeding, or claim to which that person may be made a party, or in which that person may be or become involved by reason of that person’s acts as such Director or Officer for or on behalf of the Head Start Consortium, or subject to the provisions hereof, any settlement thereof, whether or not that person continued to be such Director or Officer at the time of incurring such costs, expenses, or amounts, and whether or not the act or omission to act on the part of such Director or Officer, which is the basis of such suit, action, proceeding, or claim, occurred before or after the adoption of this bylaw, provided that such indemnification shall not apply with respect to any matter as to which such Director or Officer shall be finally adjudged in such action, suit, or proceedings to have been individually guilty of willful misfeasance or malfeasance in the performance of that person’s duty as such Director, or Officer and provided further, that the indemnification herein provided shall, with respect to any settlement of any such suit, action, proceeding, or claim, include reimbursement of any amounts paid and expenses reasonable incurred in settling any such suit, action, proceeding, or claim, when in the judgment of the Board of Directors of the Head Start Consortium, such settlement and reimbursement appear to be for the best interests of the Consortium. The foregoing right of indemnification shall be in addition to and not exclusive of any and all other rights as to which such Director or Officer may be entitled under any bylaw agreement, or otherwise.
ARTICLE XII REVISIONS
These Bylaws may be amended, enlarged, or repealed by a vote of two-thirds (2/3) of those present an any special or regular meeting of the Board of Directors.
