MSSG+Constitution

Date: September 5, 2011

__Middle School Student Government__ __Constitution__ **Article I** The name of this organization shall be the American International School of Kingston Middle School Student Government. **Article II** The purpose of this organization shall be to represent the Middle School students to the rest of the community, to lead student activities, to build a sense of community, and to collect student ideas and act upon them. **Article III** All students legally enrolled in the American International School of Kingston in Grades 6 to 8 who are academically eligible (as specified in Amendment 1) shall be considered for membership in Middle School Student Government. **Article IV** The membership of the Executive Board shall consist of a President, Vice President, Secretary/Historian, Treasurer, Junior Representative, and Technician. The Vice President shall also take on the role of Parliamentarian. If needed, the President may appoint a Committee Chair. The Executive Committee must ratify the appointment. Committee Chairs must be available for extra meetings concerning the committee they have been appointed to lead. President and Vice President must be in Grade 8 during his/her term of service. The Secretary and Treasurer must be in Grades 7 or 8 during his/her term of service. The Junior Representative must be in Grade 6 during his/her term of service. The Technician may be in Grades 6, 7, or 8 during his/her term of service. There shall also be one Class Representative for each homeroom in Middle School. Elections for Executive positions will be held near the end of each year for the positions the following year. Eligible candidates shall be nominated from each grade. They must prepare a campaign speech to present to Middle School. Votes will be written down on ballots. The Principal, the Teacher Advisor, and one other staff member will count the ballots and announce the new executives for the following school year to the Middle School student body. **Article V** The Middle School Student Government Teacher Advisor is appointed by the Principal and oversees the Middle School Student Government. **Article VI** Regular meetings shall be held at least three times every school month in a designated room. In case of an emergency, the President shall have the authority to cancel a meeting or call an emergency meeting. At least one meeting a month shall be open to the student body. **Article VII** A minimum amount of 2/3 of the Middle School Student Government and at least one Executive Committee member must be present to conduct business at meetings. In the event that less than 2/3 of the government is present or there is no Executive, the meeting shall be cancelled. **Article VIII** Any member of the Middle School Student Government except the President can bring legislation forward. The legislation must be co-sponsored by another Executive or Representative before the meetings, added to the next meeting’s agenda, and then will be presented orally. The Middle School Student Government, except the President, then votes on it – yea, nay, or abstain – with the majority winning. In the event of an even number of votes for each side, the President shall vote for either side. If the President does not agree with the legislation, then s/he may override it with a viable reason. If no viable reason is presented, then the President needs 2/3 votes to override the legislature. When the legislation is passed, the President organizes a committee, and the committee will have to report back to the President. The Treasurer will always have to be part of committees to oversee expenses. The Teacher Advisor has the right to veto any legislation. **Article IX** Any member of the Middle School Student Government may submit amendments to the Constitution during a regular meeting. Consideration of the amendment will be completed in the following manner: 2/3 of Middle School Student Government, including the Teacher Advisor, will vote on the amendment. This is then presented to the Principal and the Principal will approve or deny the amendment request. Amendments must be written in a section of the Constitution separate from the main articles. **Article X** For an officer to be dismissed, a vote must take place, and 2/3 of the Middle School Student Government and the Teacher Advisor must be in agreement of the dismissal of the officer. To dismiss the Teacher Advisor, there must be a unanimous vote from the Middle School Student Government and the vote will be presented to the Principal. If an officer or representative wishes to resign from the Middle School Student Government, s/he must give the organization two weeks notice in the form of a written letter indicating the reason for vacating the position. During this time, nominations and elections will be held to fill the open position. Officers resigning must attend all meetings, fulfill their duties, and participate in Middle School Student Government activities until they are replaced. In the event that the President leaves, the Vice President will become the new President. Nominations and elections will then be held to fill the Vice President position. **Side Note:** At the beginning of each year the Constitution shall be presented to all Middle School students. Any joining members of the Middle School Student Government will also sign the Constitution and agree to its terms. **Amendment I** In order for a student to be academically eligible to participate in Middle School Student Government, the student must maintain or exceed a 2.5 GPA (C average, 70-74%) and not be on AISK academic probation. Grade checks will be conducted by the Middle School Student Government Teacher Advisor prior to elections for candidates and at every mid-term (approximately every five weeks) for each elected member. If a student is found to be academically ineligible at the time of the grade check, s/he will be notified in writing privately by the Teacher Advisor that s/he is on MSSG Academic Probation. While on MSSG Academic Probation the student will have one mid-term (approximately five weeks) to become academically eligible and s/he is expected to fulfill all his/her responsibilities and duties and participate in activities sponsored by Middle School Student Government. It will be left to the discretion of the student on probation whether or not s/he wants to share their academic standing with the organization. If the student is unable to become academically eligible within the probationary period, the Teacher Advisor will notify the student in writing privately and the student will be asked to formally resign from his/her position in writing to the organization. If a position becomes vacant due to academic ineligibility, nominations and an election will be held to fill the position. **Amendment II** There are two procedures to follow in the event of a grievance, either by an AISK community member with MSSG or a MSSG member with another member of MSSG. If any member of the AISK community (i.e. student, parent, etc.) has a grievance with the MSSG, s/he to address the situation through the following lines of communication in this order: If the situation is not resolved with the first line of communication, it should be addressed with the next line, and so on and so forth. If MSSG has a grievance with a member of MSSG – such as failure to fulfill duties and/or responsibilities to MSSG, not taking the position seriously, lack of communication with other members, consistent absences, etc. – or they have missed a mandatory meeting without a valid excuse (to the discretion of the Teacher Advisor) the Teacher Advisor will be notified in each instance and s/he will take the following disciplinary action in private, which will be documented by the Teacher Advisor: Third offense is a written request for resignation
 * 1) MSSG President
 * 2) MSSG Teacher Advisor
 * 3) MS/HS Principal
 * 4) Head of School
 * 1) First offense is a verbal warning
 * 2) Second offense is a written warning