1.1 The legislative framework

School Councils operate under a framework provided by the:

• Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (the Act)
• Education and Training Reform Regulations 2017 (the Regulations)
• Ministerial Order no 52 – School Council Composition and Elections Order

These standing orders inform how School Council meetings will be run and how decisions will be made.

1.2 Function of School Council

School Council functions include:

• establishing the broad direction and vision of the school within the school’s community
• participating in the development and monitoring of the school strategic plan
• developing, reviewing and updating specific school policies
• raising funds for school-related purposes
• approving the annual budget and monitoring expenditure
• development and maintenance of the school’s grounds and facilities
• entering into contracts (e.g. cleaning, construction work)
• reporting annually to the school community and to the DE
• stimulating interest in the school in the wider community

1.3 Roles and responsibilities of School Council members

• Work to carry out the Functions of School Council (as listed above)
• Aim to enhance the educational opportunities for students and ensure that students’ best interests are the primary basis for decisions of council
• Prepare for meetings by:
  • reading all meeting documents prior to the meeting
  • preparing succinct questions for the School Executive
  • be in attendance 5-10 minutes before the meeting starts
• Declare any conflicts of interest
• maintain confidentiality in relation to matters discussed at meetings and information provided to councilors in writing

1.4 School Councillor Conduct

Councillors will demonstrate and promote:

• respectful partnerships
• value and encourage diverse opinions and views
• clear and honest two-way communication
• transparent processes
• democratic, informed decision-making
• personal and professional integrity

1.5. Structure of School Council

The Templestowe College Council constituting order states that composition of School Council is:

• two (2) elected student members
• six (6) elected parent members, who represent more than one third of School Councilors
• five (5) elected DE employee members. The principal who is executive officer is included in this number
• up to four (4) community members*. It should be noted that community membership is optional and that these positions are co-opted**, rather than elected.

*Community members have the same voting rights as elected members.
** DE employees are not eligible for co-option to this category

1.6. Casual vacancies

Should a casual vacancy occur on Council, this vacancy is filled by council co-opting a person from the appropriate category who then completes the rest of the term of office of the retiring member.

1.7. Office bearers School Council will have the following office bearer positions:

• president • vice president • executive officer • minutes secretary

1.8. Election and roles of office bearers

All members of School Council will vote to elect office bearers (with the exception of the executive officer and minutes secretary where that appointment is not held by a school councilor).

The School Council president is elected by all members of School Council and may not be a DE employee. It is recommended that the office of president of School Council should not be open to the same person for more than four consecutive years.

The president's key role is to chair School Council meetings and to facilitate discussion or debate. The president will endeavour to see that the meeting operates so that:

• all members who wish to comment are given a reasonable opportunity to do so
• any new members or visitors are aware of the issue being discussed
• new members and student members have the necessary background to an issue explained to them (prior to the meeting, if necessary)
• time spent discussing issues are proportionate to their importance and relevance and discussion is pertinent to the issue under consideration
• reports are presented in writing and councillors have the opportunity to discuss options and proposals within them
• issues and topics of discussion more relevant to a particular sub-committee are referred to it for recommendation and summary information/headlines opportunity is given to those not on School Council for input on an issue where appropriate
• proposed points of agreement are reiterated to assist the minute secretary

The position of executive officer is filled by the school principal. The principal is a full member of council with the same voting rights as other councillors.

The vice president is elected by all members of School Council. As the vice president may need to chair a meeting in the absence of the president, it is recommended this position should be filled by a non DE parent member or community member.

The minute secretary may be either an elected member of School Council or a person appointed to this role who is not a member of School Council and is therefore a silent observer with no voting rights.

2.1 Meeting preparation and agenda

At least seven (7) days before the School Council meeting the School Council Executive will consult to formulate and confirm the agenda. In order to prepare the agenda, the principal requires:

• all sub-committee Reports
• items of Correspondence
• all items for discussion

The School Council Executive will order the meeting agenda on the basis of logical sequence and importance of items and, where appropriate, will indicate a suggested time allocation and/or process of discussion for each item. Unless councillors deem otherwise, only agenda items will be discussed at meetings.

The agenda, minutes from the previous meeting and any notes for the meeting, such as sub-committee minutes, president’s report and principal’s report, will, where practical, be distributed to all councillors no less than one week before the meeting.

Business arising from previous minutes and all sub-committee recommendations will be itemised in the agenda.

School Council members are required to read all material prior to the meeting.

2.2 Correspondence

All correspondence to and from the Council, as sent or received since the previous School Council meeting, will be listed with the agenda. Late or urgent items of correspondence may be dealt with under general business at the discretion of the president/chairperson. Correspondence will be available to all School Councillors at each meeting. Correspondence requiring discussion or decisions will be distributed with the agenda or otherwise made available prior to the meeting.

2.3 Quorum

A quorum requires not less than one half of School Council members currently holding office to be present at the meeting with a majority of members present who are not DET employees. Any parent members on School Council who also work for the Department are counted as DET employees for the purpose of a quorum.

A member of the School Council may be present in person or by video conferencing or teleconferencing. For these purposes, Microsoft Teams will be used as a platform.

If at the end of 30 minutes after the appointed time for a meeting of School Council, there is no quorum present, the meeting will stand adjourned to a time and place determined by the School Council members present.

2.4 Acknowledgment of Country

An Acknowledgement of Country statement is to be read at the beginning of meetings. The Acknowledgement of Country statement to be read is as follows:

'I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners and custodians of the land on which we meet today, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. I pay my respects to their Elders, past and present.’

2.5 Decisions and voting

Decisions of School Council will be by a majority of those eligible to vote who are present at the meeting. School Councillors need to ensure their vote is based on the best interests of the students.

School Council will try to reach decisions by consensus and a count will be taken with the number for and against recorded in the minutes.

Voting will normally be by a show of hands, but a secret ballot may be used for particular issues at the discretion of the chairperson.

Once a vote has passed, decisions are always the decisions of the whole council.

All decisions of School Council, the motions as well as the name of the person that moved the motion and the seconder, should be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.

All members shall endeavour to assist the president by:

• co-operating with the president on the above points
• valuing other members' opinions
• being prepared to express their own opinion succinctly

2.6 Tied votes

When a vote is tied (i.e. an even number of people are for and against the decision), the president or elected chair of a particular meeting has the casting or deciding vote. It is therefore important that when the president offers a personal opinion on an issue, this is clearly stated. Councillors need to be able to clearly distinguish between the president’s personal views and when a ruling is made as president of School Council.

As an alternative, at the president’s discretion, matters can be deferred to the next School Council meeting (in order to attempt to resolve the deadlock) rather than be decided on by the president's casting vote.

2.7 Moving of motions – in meeting

All School Council members are entitled to move a motion(s) during the course of a meeting. All motions should be preceded by appropriate and thorough discussion. Motions made on items not on the agenda, which have been put to a meeting for the first time and don’t have the unanimous support of the School Council, should be deferred for the next meeting of School Council.

2.8 Moving of motions – exceptional circumstances (email circular)

In exceptional circumstances, when there is a need for School Council to make a decision that is time critical and cannot wait until the next scheduled meeting, the motion may be put to council members via email.

Motions via email must contain a full explanation of the motion, attach copies of any associated documentation and clearly articulate the reason that this decision must be made before the next scheduled School Council meeting. Sufficient time must be allowed for councillors to read and understand the motion, and ask any questions that they may have. All votes are to be returned to the president’s email address and are to be treated as unrestricted to other councillors unless a secret ballot has been specifically requested.

2.9 If the president is absent

In the absence of the president, the vice president must chair the School Council meeting. If neither the president nor vice president is present, councillors may elect a member to chair the meeting. This person should be a non DE employee.

2.10 School Council meetings

Unless otherwise decided, School Council meetings will be held a minimum of 8 times per year on the fourth Thursday of the month during the school term, from 6 – 8pm.

If members are unable to attend a meeting, they are expected to send their apology prior to the meeting.

School Council must also hold at least one public meeting each year to:

• report to the school community on its activities
• present a statement of the school’s income and expenditure for the previous calendar year
• encourage discussion and input on the school’s general direction, policies and priorities

2.11 Open and closed meetings

While all School Council meetings are expected to be open to the school community, there may be times when the council meeting, or part of the meeting needs to be closed to protect confidentiality or privacy or for another valid reason. Should this occur, school council will need to pass a motion to go into a “closed” session. School Council should then go back into open session once the topic under discussion has been concluded.

Visitors or observers are welcome to attend open meetings, but they must direct all their comments through the chairperson. Visitors have no voting rights.

2.12 Extensions of meeting times

If business has not been concluded by the scheduled closing time for the meeting, the chair should ask councillors whether they wish to defer the rest of the business until the next meeting or to extend the meeting by 15 minutes.

A motion is necessary if council wants to extend the meeting for that evening. If members are in agreement, there may be a maximum of 2 periods of extended time.

2.13 Conflict of interest

There may be times where an agenda item is, has the potential, or may be perceived to be in conflict with a School Council member’s professional, associated or personal interests.

If a School Councillor or a member of his or her immediate family has a conflict of interest (including a financial interest) in a subject or matter under discussion or being considered before School Council, that councillor must:

• declare the conflict of interest
• not be present during the discussion unless invited to do so by the person presiding at the meeting
• not be present when a vote is taken on the matter

A member’s temporary absence for this purpose does not affect the quorum for that meeting.

2.14 Minutes

All decisions of council shall be recorded as minutes. Also included in the minutes are:

• the dates and times of the meeting
• those present and apologies
• an overview of key discussions
• any actions to be taken in relation to decisions made and the person/s responsible for those actions.

When School Council minutes are submitted for confirmation, only questions regarding their accuracy as a record of the meeting are to be raised.

Once the minutes have been accepted as a true and accurate record of the meeting, they are to be signed by the School Council president or the person who chaired the meeting.

Business arising from the minutes is dealt with after the minutes have been confirmed.

Minutes of School Council are not published.

3.1 Sub-committee functions and structure

Sub-committees and working groups:

• assist council with specific work that needs to be done and/or
• may be responsible for particular delegated tasks.

They report regularly at School Council meetings, provide advice and make written recommendations to council, which has the final responsibility for decisions.

Sub-committees cannot make decisions for School Council, rather they make recommendations to council.

All School Councillors are expected to play an active role in at least one sub-committee. Generally a School Councillor will be the convenor of a sub-committee or working group. Convenors of sub-committees are appointed by motion of the School Council for a term of one year, coinciding with each new School Council election, and are eligible for reappointment.

3.2 Templestowe College sub-committees

School Council sub-committees that have been, or are intended to be, established to assist School Council include the following:

• Finance
• Policy
• Grants

A working group may be established by the School Council in response to a specific short-term need. Sub-committees and working groups of School Council must consist of at least 3 members, one of whom must be a School Council member and may include members of the school or broader community who are not School Councillors.

These standing orders apply to all working groups and sub-committees.

3.3 Duties of a convenor of a sub-committee or working group

The Convenor of a Sub-Committee shall be responsible to:

• chair the meetings of the sub-committee
• prepare a brief agenda before the meeting
• ensure that the meeting proceedings and recommendations are recorded
• provide reports from the sub-committee to the School Council executive one week before the next School Council meeting so they may be presented to the school council members in the week prior to the School Council meeting
• verbally clarify any points as required by School Council
• ensure that workloads are shared among the sub-committee members

4.1 Extended leave of School Council member

A member of a School Council may apply in writing to the president for extended leave of up to three consecutive meetings. If leave is granted to a member, his/her membership is excluded in determining the requirement for a quorum.

4.2 Casual vacancies on School Council

If a casual vacancy occurs School Council will determine if they wish to co-opt an eligible person to the relevant category.