What
Are Bylaws?
Bylaw
- a law of local application adopted by an organization
or assembly.
Every
level of PTA has bylaws - the local units, the councils,
districts, the state and even the National PTA operate
within the guidelines of a bylaw document.
Bylaws
represent the most important legal document of an association,
establishing and protecting the rights of the membership.
A unit's bylaws link the association to the Virginia
PTA and National PTA by which they are chartered. Bylaws
represent the written contract between the general
membership and their elected officials, specifying
what duties and responsibilities are assigned to each
respective group.
Bylaws
are the key to:
- understanding
the organization;
- answering
questions about nominations, elections, board vacancies,
duties of officers, auditing the books, etc.
- settling
disputes and assisting with conflict resolution.
When
your unit is having problems, remember to ask "What
do our bylaws say?"
For
these reasons, it is extremely important that all bylaws
be current, clear in content, and accurately represent
the way a local unit conducts the business of the association.
Revision
Requirements Bylaws must be revised every 5 years.
If your bylaws are dated 5 year before the current
year, (example it is 2006, your bylaws are dated 2001)they
are due for a revision now.
