Constitution of the Bancroft Middle School
Student Council
W
E the Scholars of the Bancroft Middle
School, in order to form a more perfect school, provide for the
representation of the voice of the Middle School students, promote
the school spirit, and establish an organized policy for the effective
operation of student government, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the Bancroft Middle School Student Council.
Article I-Role of the Student Council
Section I-Mission Statement: The student council was created to represent
the voice of the middle school students. As elected leaders of the community,
we listen to ideas and concerns, and see that they are properly addressed. We
are responsible for organizing social events, in collaboration with other
Bancroft groups, including the administration, faculty, and PFA. It is also our
responsibility to raise awareness around a specified charity each year. Through
initiative, collaboration, and leadership, we strive to enhance the spirit of the
middle school community.
Section II-Specific Duties of the Student Council: It shall be the
responsibility of the Student Council to:
 Serve as a democratic forum for the discussion of issues relevant to
students
 Handle all student proposals efficiently
 Organize four Dances and various social events every school year
 Maintain a Canteen for the sale of snacks to students
 Support charity on behalf of the Middle School, including one specific
charity chosen at the beginning of each school year
 Organize the weekly Assembly through its Executive Board
Article II-Members and Officers
Section I-The Members: The voting membership of Student Council shall
consist of one President, one Vice President, one Secretary, one Treasurer, and
four representatives of each sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. The President,
Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer shall be the Officers of student council
and shall be referred to collectively as its Executive Board. The Student Council
shall additionally have Faculty Advisors, nonvoting, to assist it in its duties.
Section II-General Requirements for Membership: Being a member of
Student Council is a privilege and an honor. In order to assure the highest
standards possible in governing a student body, certain standards must be met
by those holding Student Council offices or running for them. All members
and candidates shall be required to:
 Maintain acceptable grade point averages
 Hold the school’s best interests at heart and abide by its regulations
 Be willing and able to represent all students and treat everyone fairly
 Be willing to lead and aware of the responsibilities of office
Section III-Specific Requirements: To this end, a person may be denied the
privilege of holding or standing for election to Student Council office who shall
fail to maintain an academic average of no less than seventy percent (70%) with
passing grades in all courses taken and subjects studied, or who shall have been,
within one year of office or candidacy therefore, suspended from the Bancroft
School or placed on Disciplinary Probation therein, or who shall have ever
been removed from Student Council office pursuant to Article VI.
Section IV-Enforcement: Denials of candidature shall be by Student Council
Faculty Advisers; removals under the provisions of this Article shall be by the
Head of Middle School.
Article III-Duties of Members and Officers
All Members and Officers of Student Council shall have roles and duties
based on their respective positions as follows:
President:
 Facilitate all student council meetings and act as Chair
 Open the weekly assembly
 Coordinate activities and delegate responsibility
 Act as a role model for the student body
Vice President:
 Collaborate with President in all duties
 Step in for absent president at all meetings and assemblies
 Maintain all organizational aspects of social events
 Act as a role model for the student body
Secretary:
 Compile agenda for meetings in conjunction with executive board
 Record and post minutes from each meeting
 Photocopy and distribute all student council memoranda
 Collect proposals and present them to Student Council
 Act as a role model for the student body
Treasurer:
 Maintain schedule for canteen operation
 Monitor status of the canteen moneybox
 Serve as point person for money collection at social events
 Act as a role model for the student body
Grade Representatives:
 Attend all meetings
 Contribute to meetings with ideas, suggestions, and adjustments
 Support executive board by conducting research and performing
necessary tasks at student council events
 Attend all student council events
 Act as role models for the student body
Faculty Advisors:
 Facilitate executive board meetings
 Mediate discussions at student council meetings (if necessary)
 Coordinate interaction between the student council and
administration, faculty, and PFA
the
Failure to fulfill these roles and perform these duties effectively is
reasonable cause for discipline as described under Article VI.
Article IV-Means of Transaction of Business
Section I-Meetings: The Student Council shall meet once weekly, during
Clubs/Menu block, and the Executive Board shall have a separate weekly
meeting at any time they may collectively establish. Until such time as other
times for meetings are determined, the general Student Council shall meet on
Mondays during the period stated, and the Executive Board shall meet on
Tuesdays during Luncheon. General Student Council meetings shall be for the
purpose of considering student proposals and responding to the requests and
orders of the Middle School faculty and administration. Executive Board
meetings shall be for the purpose of communicating Student Council proposals
to the Head of Middle School and planning the weekly Assembly.
Section II-Quorum: No formal business may be transacted without the
presence of a Student Council quorum, which shall consist of three-fourths of
all members, including the President or the Vice-President, an additional
Officer (who may be the other of the aforementioned), and two
Representatives of each grade. In addition, at least one Faculty Adviser must be
present at every meeting.
Section III-Proposals: Any Bancroft Middle School student may make a
Proposal to the Student Council by submitting a letter describing the action
proposed and the rationale for it to the Secretary. A Proposal may be passed by
a majority vote provided that it does not conflict with this Constitution, in
which case it must be passed as an Amendment. A passed Proposal shall be
edited to address the Head of Middle School rather than the Student Council
and in any other way ordered by the Student Council and then presented to the
Head of Middle School.
Section IV-Debate: Prior to voting on any issue, the members of the Student
Council shall discuss the merits and disadvantages of each course of action.
The Student Council shall set the rules of order for debate, but no member
may be denied the right to speak at least once on an issue, and debate may not
be closed except when no additional members wish to speak or by a Motion of
Cloture passed by the consent of two-thirds of the entire council.
Section V-Voting: All significant issues shall be resolved by vote. Student
Council votes, except in cases of discipline or at the request of three members,
shall be by show of hands. In the cases named, secret ballot shall be used. In
Student Council votes, all members shall have equal votes with the exception of
the Chair, who shall not vote unless his or her vote shall impact the final
decision, voting is by secret ballot, or the membership of Student Council
allows the Chair to participate in debate and voting by a two-thirds vote. A
majority vote shall be sufficient to pass a Student Council action except as
described in this Constitution. All votes shall be of the full Student council, not
of a Quorum unless otherwise stated.
Section VI-Administrative Veto Power: All Student Council proposals,
petitions, and other action shall be forwarded to the Head of Middle School by
an executive board member and/or faculty advisor within two school days of
passage. The head of Middle School shall then be responsible for reviewing the
act in a timely fashion and shall either give his approval of it and pass it if the
action called for under it is within his authority and forward it to the
Headmaster if said action is not within the MS Head’s authority, or veto its
passage by returning the act to Student Council with his reason for dissent to it.
A veto shall be final, and action shall not take full effect until duly approved.
Article V-Campaign and Elections
Section I-Spring and Fall Elections: The elections for Student Council
positions shall be divided into two phases. The first phase shall be the election
of Officers, and shall be conducted during May of the year preceding the term
in office to be filled by election. This phase shall hereinafter be referred to as
Spring Elections. The second phase, hereinafter referred to as Fall Elections,
shall consist of the election of grade representatives.
Section II-Candidacy: Candidacy for Student Council shall be selfnominated, effected by presenting one’s name, position sought, and platform to
the Faculty Advisers. A Grade Representative may only represent his or her
grade level. The President and Vice President shall be eighth grade students
while in office, the Secretary shall be a seventh or eighth grade student while in
office, and the Treasurer shall be a seventh grade student while in office. The
Faculty Advisers may deny candidacy to a student who does not meet the
requirements of Article II and the head of Middle School may deny candidacy
for any reasonable cause.
Section III-Campaign: All candidates shall have the right to hang campaign
posters and distribute campaign materials upon duly nominating themselves.
Limits upon the quantities and types of posters and materials may be set by
student council. Campaign (counted from first day nominations may be
presented) shall continue for at least five school days before Fall Elections and
at least ten school days before Spring Elections.
Section IV-Inappropriate Campaigning: Attempts to solicit votes other
than by legitimately advertising one’s platform shall be prohibited. Specifically
forbidden shall be the distribution of gifts or bribes on the school premises.
Inappropriate campaigning shall be punishable by rescinding of candidacy
and/or disciplinary action.
Section V-The Vice-Presidency: The offices of Treasurer, Secretary,
President, and Grade Representative may be sought by standard procedure.
However, the Vice-President shall be chosen outside of the main election. The
second-highest-ranked candidate for President shall become the VicePresident.
Section VI-Speeches: Candidates shall give speeches outlining their platform
to the constituencies involved as part of campaign. Grade representative
candidates shall give their speeches to their own grade. Executive board
candidates shall make their speeches to the students of fifth, sixth, and seventh
grades.
Section VII-Voting: Following the speeches, voters will cast ballots. Each
voter shall award two votes to one candidate for each position and a single vote
to as many or as few other candidates as he or she shall choose. The sum of the
votes given to each candidate shall be found, and in offices held by one person
the candidate receiving the highest ranking shall be deemed elected. In offices
held by multiple people, the highest-ranked candidates, in descending order
until all positions are filled or no candidates remain, shall be deemed elected.
Tie votes will be broken by run-off elections.
Article VI-Accountability and Discipline
Section I-General Provisions: The Bancroft Middle School Student Council
shall be fully accountable to the student body of the Bancroft Middle School in
all its actions. To ensure this, the following measures shall be taken: First, all
minutes and agendas of meetings shall be posted in a public place, accessible to
all students. Second, officers shall from time to time make reports to the
student body. Third, students believing themselves poorly represented or in any
way wronged or aggrieved by student council shall have the right to lodge
complaints with the officers and faculty advisors of student council. Fourth,
there shall be a system by which members of Student Council may be
disciplined. The purpose of the remainder of this article shall be devoted to
more fully describing the disciplinary system.
Section II-Reprimands: A Student Council member who shall behave
detrimentally to the operations and/or reputation of the Student Council,
which shall include failing to perform the duties described in Article III, shall
be reprimanded by a two-thirds vote of the full Student Council. A member
who shall be assigned to three Detentions within fifty school days, who shall be
absent from a Student Council meeting without due excuse, or who shall be
three times tardy to a Student Council meeting in a Trimester without due
excuse shall be reprimanded automatically. Furthermore, the Faculty Advisers
shall have the right to issue Reprimands in response to student complaints. A
Reprimand shall be formally recorded but shall not deny a member any
privileges.
Section III-Censure: A member of Student Council who puts the Student
Council in disrepute or interferes with its business very severely may be
censured by the Student Council. Prior to Censure, Articles of Censure must be
passed by a two-thirds vote of the full Student Council or imposed by the
Faculty Advisers upon the member accumulating three Reprimands. Following
the passage of Articles of Censure, the member in question shall be given
opportunity at a hearing to show cause why severe discipline should not be
imposed. If after such hearing it shall be the opinion of four-fifths of the
Student Council that Censure and severe discipline are warranted, the member
shall be deemed censured and shall cease to be a member of Student Council
until a Disciplinary Conference has occurred.
Section IV-Disciplinary Conference: A censured member or one suspended
from the Bancroft School or placed on disciplinary probation therein shall meet
with the Executive Board, the Faculty Advisers, and the Head of Middle
School in a Disciplinary Conference. Following a discussion of the offences,
the Head of Middle School shall impose a penalty up to removal from office.
In addition, a member of Student Council may be summoned to a Disciplinary
Conference by order of the Head of Middle School, at the request of the
middle school faculty, or by a petition bearing the signatures of one fourth of
the student body of the Bancroft Middle School.
Section V-Special Election: A member removed from office shall be replaced
by means of a special election except if the President shall be removed, in
which case the Vice President shall assume the Presidency and a new Vice
President shall be elected. Voting in special elections shall be in the same
manner as voting in ordinary elections.
Section VI-School Authority: The authorities of the Bancroft School shall
have the right to remove any member of Student Council from office.
Article VII-Amendments
Section I-Amendment General: This Constitution may be amended or
rescinded in whole or part by the Head of Middle School, the authorities of the
Bancroft School, or a formally passed Amendment subject to veto.
Section II-Amendment Proposal: An Amendment may be proposed by a
resolution of two-thirds of the Student Council or by the presentation to the
Secretary a petition bearing the signatures of one fourth of the student body of
the Bancroft Middle School.
Section III-Referendum: An Amendment proposed by petition or one
against which a petition of no less than one eighth of the student body shall
have been submitted shall be brought before the student body of the middle
school. If a majority of the votes cast shall be in favor of it, the amendment
shall be passed subject to administrative veto. Amendments not brought to
referendum shall be treated as amendments approved by the student body.
Article VIII-Ratification
This Constitution shall take effect upon its unanimous approval by the
current Student Council, its ratification by the student body of the Bancroft
Middle School, and its approval by the Head of Middle School. The approval
of the student body shall be assumed unless a referendum petition bearing the
signatures of one eighth of the student body shall be presented to the Secretary
of the Student Council, in which case the approval of two thirds of the student
body shall be required as given by vote in a general election.
Respectfully submitted to the Student Council of the Bancroft Middle School
on this twenty-sixth day of the month of February in the year two thousand
and seven following informal approval,
__________________________________
Nikolai Doytchinov
Writer of the Constitution
Grade Eight Representative
Respectfully submitted to the Head of Middle School upon unanimous
approval by the Student Council in accordance with the foregoing Article on
this ____________ day of the month of __________________ of the year
two thousand and seven,
__________________________________
President
__________________________________
Vice-President
__________________________________
Secretary
__________________________________
Treasurer
_________________________
Grade Eight Representative
__________________________
Grade Eight Representative
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Grade Eight Representative
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Grade Seven Representative
_________________________
Grade Seven Representative
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Grade Seven Representative
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Grade Six Representative
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Grade Six Representative
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Grade Six Representative
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Grade Six Representative