INDEX

About Us

Mission

The purpose of the Westland Band Boosters is to promote the interests and activities of the Instrumental Music Department of Westland High School.

The Booster organization is open to everyone: parents, grandparents, family and friends. Annual membership is only $5.00 and entitles you to vote on all issues brought before the membership.

You can join at the monthly booster meetings, held the second Monday of every month, at 7:30 pm, in the school band room. Show support for our kids by becoming a member!

Constitution

Article I - The Name

The name of this organization shall be the Westland Band Boosters, Inc.; a nonprofit organization.

Article II - The Purpose

Section 1

To promote the interests and activities of the Instrumental Music Department of Westland High School.

Section 2

To organize the activities of the members, when said activities are for the purpose of providing financial and/or physical assistance to any program specifically involving the Instrumental Music Department of Westland High School. To organize and conduct fund raising activities for the purpose of financing non-curricular activities of the Instrumental Music Department, including but not restricted to, the purchase of band uniforms, the purchase of awards, band camp funds, to the extent that the aforementioned activities are agreed upon by a majority of members, with current membership, in attendance at regular meetings of the Westland Band Boosters.

Article III - Membership

Section 1

The membership shall be open to anyone who is interested in music in the school. Membership is to run from June 1st to May 31st.

Section 2

Individual membership dues will be $5.00 yearly.

Section 3

Membership dues must be paid in full by the January booster meeting for the member to be eligible to cast their ballot for elections at the April meeting. (Added and approved June 8, 2009)

Article IV - Meetings

Section 1

Annual Meetings. The first annual meeting of the corporation will be held on the second Monday of June each year. The second annual meeting of the corporation will be held the second Monday of April of each year, as shall be determined by the Executive Board.

Section 2

Regular Meetings. There shall be no less than (2) two regular meetings, and such other special meetings as may be called by the Executive Board, or by the President with the approval of the Executive board.

Section 3

The Executive Board shall meet within ten (10) days before each meeting and three monthly meetings during the summer. Time and place of these meetings shall be determined by the President.

Section 4

Place of Meetings. All meetings shall be held at Westland High School , or at such other place within Franklin County, Ohio, as shall be designated by the Executive Board.

Section 5

At the meetings of the corporation, those voting members present shall constitute a quorum provided the President or Vice President and one of the other elected officers and four others are present.

Article V - Executive Organization

Section 1

The elected officers of this organization which consist of the President, Vice President of Ways and Means, Vice President of Transportation, Secretary, Treasurer, Deputy Treasurer,  and Publicity shall make up the Executive Board. The appointed officers of this organization shall be the Immediate Past President; Committee Chairs; the Band Director and a representative of the Band Auxiliary Unit. (Amended and approved March 11, 2013)

An Executive Member may be removed from office if they miss two consecutive meetings and fail to fulfill the responsibilities of their office.  At that time the Executive Baord can remove them from office by a majority vote. (voted on and approved by the general membership on February 14, 2011)

Section 2

The President shall preside at all meetings of the club and Executive Board.

Section 3

  1. The Vice President of Ways and Means shall, in the absence of the President, preside at all meetings of the club and of the Executive Board. Also, during the year shall oversee the activities of the Ways and Means Committee, Cougar Corner, SODEXHO, SCRIP, Candy Bar sales and the 50/50 Committee. (Amended and approved March 9, 2009)
  2. The Vice President of Transportation shall, in the absence of the President and Vice President of Ways and Means, preside at all meetings of the club and of the Executive Board. Also, during the year shall oversee the logistics of the Band: making sure all vehicles are usable, have drivers, and are where and when they are supposed to be. Will also oversee the equipment needs of the Band Directors: i.e., the tower for directing and the sideline tractor and trailer as well as overseeing the activities of the Pit Crew, Band Camp Committee and Tree Sale. (Amended and approved March 9, 2009)

Section 4

The Secretary shall record the proceedings of all meetings of the organization as directed by vote.

Section 5

The Treasurer's position shall be a 2 year term, the first to be served as a Deputy Treasurer assisting the incumbent Treasurer. (Amended and approved March 11, 2013)  The Treasurer shall collect, and disperse funds of the organization as directed by vote; shall keep accounts which shall at all times be open to inspection and shall be audited at the end of the school year. Checks drawn on the checking account shall bear two signatures of the Elected Officers. The Treasurer shall be bonded for $50,000.00 which bond is to be paid by the organization. Within ten days after the close of the fiscal year, the incumbent Treasurer shall file the required Form 990 with the Internal Revenue Service. The Treasurer shall provide copies of the treasurer s report for all attending members at each booster meeting. (Amended and approved March 9, 2009)

Section 6

The Publicity Officer is to help with fundraisers, get ads out to local areas and plaques to businesses that sponsor the boosters and publish a quarterly newsletter to be issued in June, October, December and March. The publicity officer shall also send out letters of thank you to businesses that donate items and help in various ways. (Amended and approved March 9, 2009)

Section 7

The Committee Chairs and a representative from the Band Auxiliary Units shall assist the Executive Board in the operation of the organization as deemed necessary. (Amended and approved March 9, 2009)

Section 8

Remove section 8 – redundant information (Amended and approved March 9, 2009)

Section 9

The President shall oversee the activities of the Membership Committee, Hospitality Committee, Uniform Committee and Nominating Committee. The President shall also appoint all committees deemed necessary. (Amended and approved March 9, 2009)

Article VI - Election of Officers

Section 1

The President shall appoint a nominating committee of three (3) voting members to gather nominations for officers for the coming year. Said members shall be appointed in February. Nominations will be open until March 31st for all executive board positions. All Current board members must be re-nominated to be considered for the ballot. Persons serving on the Nominating committee shall not be considered for nomination. (Amended and approved March 9, 2009)

Section 2

The officers shall be elected at the April meeting and nominations from the floor shall be accepted. The newly elected officers shall assume their duties on June 1.

Prospective Executive Members must be a paid member of the Band Boosters to be included in the ballot.  If elected they must pay dues for the following season by the end of the April meeting in order to keep their office. (voted on and approved by the general membership on February 14, 2011)

Section 3

In the event an officer or Chairperson becomes unable to serve, the Executive Board shall appoint a replacement to complete the year. (Amended and approved March 9, 2009)

Section 4

A husband and wife couple may not serve on the Executive Board at the same time. (Amended and approved March 9, 2009)

Section 5

Any paid member of the organization will be allowed to cast one absentee ballot according to the following procedure:

A. Absentee ballots will be available on the website from April 1 (day after nominations are closed) until Noon on Election Day

B. Absentee ballots will have a list of nominees and a space for a write in candidate for each position

C. Absentee ballots will have a place to enter their booster membership number for verification of member status and for anonymity voting

· The membership number is assigned when membership is paid and recorded on their membership card and also in the receipt book, which is kept by the Membership Committee. If the member does not have their number they can contact the Membership Committee and it will be provided.

D. Absentee ballots will be emailed to all three committee members (for checks/balances) printed off and brought to the election meeting to be counted with the general votes

E. The Nominating Committee will contact the Membership Committee and provide the membership number to maintain anonymity of the ballot and to verify it is a valid membership number

To prevent double ballots being cast the nominating committee will keep a list of the membership numbers who have voted absentee and a ballot will not be issued to that membership number at the general election. (Added and approved June 8, 2009)

Article VII - Disbursement of Funds

Section 1

All requested expenditures over $100.00, other than Band Booster Operating Expenses, must first be presented to the Executive Board at least one week prior to a regular meeting for consideration before being put to the membership for vote. The Executive Board shall determine whether the requested expenditure is

A. Consistent with the purpose and by-laws of the organization,

B. Whether the financial condition of the organization permits the expenditure without creating a negative balance in the Treasury

C. Consider all obligations of the organization. The President, or the Vice President in his absence, shall submit a report stating the findings of the committee at the next regular meeting of the organization. The request shall then be submitted to the vote of the membership.

D. In an emergency situation the Executive Board shall by majority vote approve expenditures over $100.00.

E. See also Article XIV Rules Governing Equipment Section 3 regarding expenditures related to transportation equipment.

(Amended and approved March 9, 2009)

F.  Students who owe $100 or more from the past seasons fees on May 1st will NOT be pemitted to march the upcoming season. (voted on and approved by the general membership on April 8, 2013)

Section 2

The Executive Board shall prepare and present, for approval, a budget proposal at the first annual meeting, which shall include the Band Director s proposed budget.

Section 3

The annual amount of $400.00 shall be put into a special fund to be used at the discretion of the Band Director.

Section 4

Change All committee chairpersons shall prepare and submit a formal budget to the Executive Board for approval. The committee chairpersons shall keep a log of all sales and expenditures, with receipts, which shall be reported to the Treasurer for accounting purposes. (Amended and approved March 9, 2009)

Article VIII - Uniforms

Section 1

Band uniforms will be rented to each Band Member at a cost determined by the directors each year (subject to change, as needed, by a vote of the membership), with said fee put into an account for the purpose of replacing and/or final cleaning of uniforms.

Section 2

The final cleaning of all uniforms will be provided by a company to be determined by the Executive Board.

Article IX - Amendment to the Constitution

The constitution, and/or any part, may be amended at any regular meeting by a two-third vote of members present, providing the proposed amendment has been read at the preceding meeting and is not in conflict with the Articles of Incorporation.

Article X - Emergency Procedures — Power of the Executive Board

In the event of the need for decisions regarding official action of the organization, the agreement of four of the six officers named in Article V, Section 1, shall be sufficient. Funds up to the amount of $1,000.00 can be submitted to such action. A full written report shall be read and spread upon the minutes of the next meeting. (Amended and approved March 9, 2009)

Article XI - Authority

Roberts Rules of Order Revised shall apply in all cases which they do not conflict with the rules of the organization.

Article XII - Dissolution

This organization has been formed to assist the Instrumental Music Department of Westland High School. It can be dissolved only by a majority vote of the members. All funds of this organization will be turned over to the Instrumental Music Department of Westland High School upon dissolution with no monies reverting to the members of the organization.

Article XIII - Authority of the Band Director

Being that the Band Director is a paid member of the South-Western City School District with the responsibility of education as well as the health and well being of the students enrolled in the band program, he or she shall have an absolute veto in all areas of the Booster program when such matters concern the student and or the band program. The Band Director will direct the Boosters as to the direction the band is taking and will thus direct the Boosters as to what is needed to help the band to meet its goals. Also, being a paid staff member, the Band Director has the power to dissolve the Executive Board if deemed necessary. (Amended 3/4/1991)

Article XIV - Rules Governing Equipment (added 1/13/92)

Section 1

Remove Section 1 – we do not have an equipment bus (Amended and approved March 9, 2009)

Section 2

Remove Section 2 - we do not have an equipment bus (Amended and approved March 9, 2009)

Section 3

Authority for operators of transportation equipment:

A. All annual budgets will include $1,000.00 in emergency funds to be used at the discretion of these operators to maintain the equipment in a safe condition.

B. All operators off this equipment will maintain the equipment in a safe condition at all times using what ever means is necessary even if it means hiring the job out to experts who will charge for this service. All purchases will be reported to the 2nd Vice-President as soon as possible and all bills will be presented to the Treasurer for immediate payment. During any trip that takes this equipment outside the city limits the Treasurer will make sure emergency cash and checks are available in case repairs are needed on the road, i.e. a new tire for one of the vehicles.

C. Remove subsection C.) consolidated into subsections A.) and B.) (Amended and approved March 9, 2009)

D. Only designated licensed drivers, including students at the Band Directors discretion, shall be allowed to operate the snapper. (Added and approved March 9, 2009)

This copy of the Constitution was amended and approved by majority vote the membership of the Westland Band Booster Organization; the most recent amendments were approved March 9, 2009 and June 8, 2009. Previous copies of the Constitution are on file with the Treasurer and a copy can be requested at any time.