Membership and Bylaws
Thanks for clicking over to learn more about Membership and Bylaws. You can submit your proxy vote here. Read on for more info.
There are three key pieces reviewed below:
Questions and Answers about Membership and Bylaws
Who are Members? Am I a Member? (And am I really a Member if I’m receiving financial aid?)
All parents and guardians of students enrolled in the school are Members and all Logan employees are members. That’s it.
If you are a parent or guardian of a student enrolled at Logan, you are a Member. Similarly, if you are employed by Logan, you are also a Member. (For those who are both a parent of a Logan student and an employee, sweet. But you are only a single Member.)
What is a Membership organization?
A Membership organization is a governance structure where Members have certain rights and responsibilities connected to the school’s governance, such as voting for members of the Board of Trustees (that many of you do every spring) and voting on revised Bylaws. The Board of Trustees is the other governing body for the school, and the rules for, expectations of, and rights of the Board are also contained in the Bylaws.
Why have I never heard of this before?
A lot of individuals in our Logan community are confused about this whole membership thing. It is definitely unusual in the independent school world at this point. We try to share information about Membership throughout the year, but we recognize it can be befuddling. Hopefully this will answer some of your questions and you’ll feel more comfortable with the Membership concept moving forward.
I don’t know anything about Bylaws. What are Bylaws? Why am I supposed to review them and even vote on them?
One way to think about Bylaws is that they are the Board’s constitution, a set of legally binding rules that outline governance practices for the Board and, in Logan’s case, for Membership. All non-profit organizations have Bylaws guiding their practices.
Because Logan is a Membership organization (please see above), the Bylaws require that any formal changes to the Bylaws must be approved by the Members. This requirement implies that Members will review the document and be able to understand the changes in a way that they can make a decision about voting to approve them, or not.
These Bylaws sound very official. Are they a legal document?
Yup, these are a legally binding document. Before the Board voted to present the Proposed 2023 Bylaws for consideration to Membership, the school’s attorney reviewed them to ensure they were in compliance with Colorado Non-Profit Law and aligned to best practices for independent schools.
So how am I supposed to learn enough about the Bylaws to review them and then vote?
Great question! We have put together a series of documents to try to make the Bylaw review and revision process as inclusive and transparent as possible for our members. In addition to having a clean copy of the proposed 2023 Bylaws, there is a Redline copy which shows all of the proposed edits imposed upon the 2016 Bylaws so you can see the changes directly. There is also a set of Annotated Notes that explains the thinking behind the proposed changes. Keep reading to learn more.
How will voting work at the Membership meeting?
According to our current Bylaws, a quorum of 65 members is needed to be able to conduct a vote. These 65 members may be present in the cafeteria or on the zoom meeting, and members can also submit proxy votes in advance.
In order for the proposed Bylaws to pass, two thirds (⅔) of those present (again, in the actual room, on the zoom, or by submitting a proxy vote) must vote in favor of it.
Okay, I get that this matters, but I can’t attend Membership. How do I submit a proxy vote?
Thanks for participating. Being a membership organization requires that Members are engaged in the community, and we appreciate you taking the time to read about proposed Bylaw revisions and the vote. Here’s the link to vote by proxy. Please submit your proxy ballot before 6pm on October 17th (ie, before the meeting begins). You can also vote online during the meeting, if you are on zoom.
Series of Bylaw Documents
Here are a series of Bylaws for your consideration:
What to do if you have further questions
If you have technical questions about the 2023 proposed Bylaws, please email them by Sunday, Oct 15th to: board@theloganschool.org.
Thanks so much for reading all these materials. We hope to see you at the Membership meeting on Oct 17th at 6pm, in person or on Zoom (details below). You may submit a proxy ballot until the meeting begins at 6 PM on the 17th.
ZOOM DETAILS
Meeting ID: 851 7146 5769
