Guest Posted October 1, 2010 Posted October 1, 2010 Hi all, Hope I am in the right section.. sorry if not. We had our AGM on monday and the complete committee stood down and a new committee where elected, my question is "was the vote legal?" the outgoing officers nominated and seconded the proposed new officers with a couple of parents also voting..(one of them for her own role albeit the one she was giving up!) Now a parent as come forward and said they dont think it was a legal vote? i have no idea can you help no staff where involved in the nominations or second's hope this makes sense, also does anyone know what the ratios etc are with regards to voting? thanks mel
AnonyMouse_3735 Posted October 1, 2010 Posted October 1, 2010 think it depends on the constitution... we had one where staff had a vote at agm so could nominate etc.. and they did just as your outgoing committee did.. and one year we had a PLA rep there while they did it, she found no problem with it. the numbers attending should be also taken into account.. cannot remember but think ours was we had to have 60% of parents with children in the setting attending the meeting... and each family had one vote/attendance per child.. so if mum and dad both came it was 1 vote and 1 attendance.. if twins or 2 children attending they had 1 vote each.. this was where we had problems if not enough attended we coudl call one more meeting.. and if we failed again it was closure.. got close one year! Number elected? minimum of 3 officers and 2 others .. max of 9 was ours.. all this was set out in our constitution.. did you ask why she though it wasn't legal.. Inge
AnonyMouse_3139 Posted October 1, 2010 Posted October 1, 2010 I'd agree with Inge, its the only way to vote if they are the only people present. Were parents present and not included in the voting? You'd have to read your consitution to know if it was correct. If it PLA it states that each family has one vote.
Guest Posted October 1, 2010 Posted October 1, 2010 Does this parent fancy a role on a committee? If she does, Rea could do with her Sounds legal to me, you could ask the charities commission but to be honest it sounds fine. Not as though people are queuing up to do the job is it?
Guest Posted October 1, 2010 Posted October 1, 2010 (edited) Does this parent fancy a role on a committee? If she does, Rea could do with her Sounds legal to me, you could ask the charities commission but to be honest it sounds fine. Not as though people are queuing up to do the job is it? Definatley not queuing up for the posts, this is how it worked. chairperson. was proposed by old chair then seconded by outgoing treasurer, and then motion carried (thats the wording on minutes) should they have had a vote of all parents to elect then... think this is what she on about.. because none of the other parents present had a say just sat there and listened we only elected the 3 officers and have no other members but have just read a PLA constitution and think we need more members can I be one in my capacity of senior? then we need to find another we are affilated with the PLA so im presuming we have adopted there constitution, does need renewing each change of committee? sorry loads of questions... at bit of a loss.. Edited October 1, 2010 by mk5698
AnonyMouse_3139 Posted October 1, 2010 Posted October 1, 2010 You'd need to check your constitution for that but possibly, yes.
AnonyMouse_3139 Posted October 1, 2010 Posted October 1, 2010 But...if the parent was there and didnt propose or second thats her problem really unless it wasnt explained that she or others could.
AnonyMouse_3735 Posted October 1, 2010 Posted October 1, 2010 Sounds like it was Ok.. that is what we did, but must admit I tended to make sure they asked if everyone was happy with it.. then motion carried.. could this be the bit she felt was missing.. Does sound though like you need at least 2 other committee members.. If it is the latest one I think it can be staff members, but they cannot deal with anything to do with the wages etc.. would the person asking want to be on the committee which is why she is asking.. she may have worked on committees before so know a bit about it.. but they do all work differently depending on the constitution.. we never adopted the constitution every year, but did make everyone aware of it.. it is a nightmare sometimes.. Inge
Guest Posted October 1, 2010 Posted October 1, 2010 Hi, thanks for your replies, I think she went home and spoke to her husband who's on a golf club committee, dont think she as any interest in joining up! same old story.. I'm new to senior's role since start of term. so need to brush up on this side of things. I've worked out that we had 60% of parents present at the meeting even if they didnt really have any input and its not in the minutes.
AnonyMouse_3735 Posted October 1, 2010 Posted October 1, 2010 sounds right.. all committees are run differently, and seems like all done was fine . our minutes always listed all parents present,I think they should do Good luck.. Inge
Guest Spiral Posted October 4, 2010 Posted October 4, 2010 Just a thought - if the vote was or wasn't legal, who is going to make a compliaint of it and who to? It's easy to state something isn't right, but to actually take it further is ....well...... unheard of for most of us, Spiral.
Guest Posted October 4, 2010 Posted October 4, 2010 Hi, just for your future reference, I think what she might have meant is that you are supposed to propose, then second, then take a show of hands, i.e. 'all those for', 'anyone against', etc. But in reality that is just a formality and I think you are fine.
AnonyMouse_3139 Posted October 5, 2010 Posted October 5, 2010 Its our local PLA AGM next week, I'll be watching far more closely than I ever have before to see exactly what they do. But, I dont recall a show of hands at any previous meetings.
Guest Posted October 13, 2010 Posted October 13, 2010 Definitely check what your governing document says (and change it if you need to!!). Our standard PLA Memorandum and Articles has a totally different process (no proposing or seconding). See below: 4.7 All voting Members shall be eligible to stand for election to the Committee. Paid employees of the Pre-school can only be Committee members or vote at Committee meetings provided the requirements of clause 5.1.1 of the Memorandum are complied with. Otherwise they, or their representative, can be invited to attend any or all Committee meetings in an advisory capacity and should normally be so invited, but need not attend the whole of such meetings. Paid employees of the Pre-school may hold Affiliate Membership and may attend General meetings of the Pre-school in that capacity, but may not vote on matters affecting their terms and conditions of employment. 4.8 Not less than two weeks prior to the date of the next Annual General Meeting at which the election of elected Committee members will take place each eligible Member shall be sent a form which any Member wishing to stand as a candidate for election to the Committee must return to the Secretary. Members returning such form shall be deemed to have notified their willingness to act as a member of the Committee if so elected. 4.9 At the next Annual General Meeting the prospective new elected members of the Committee shall be those candidates from amongst those having notified their willingness to stand who receive the highest number of votes from the Members up to a maximum of 12. 4.10 At the first Committee meeting following the Annual General Meeting at which the newly elected members of the Committee shall have been elected in accordance with Article 4.4 the newly elected members of the Committee shall appoint from amongst their number a Chair, a Treasurer and a Secretary (who shall be the “Company Secretary” of the Pre-School for company law purposes) in place of any such persons standing down by retirement by virtue of Article 4.4 to serve as members of the Committee until the end of the next Annual General Meeting. 4.11 The Secretary shall notify Companies House in the appropriate manner of any changes to the Committee.
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