Abernethy PTA

Standing Rules 2026–27

Abernethy Parent Teacher Association · Abernethy Elementary School, 2421 SE Orange Avenue, Portland, OR 97214

National PTA #: 016880 · Council affiliation: Portland

The Abernethy PTA is affiliated with the National PTA and the Oregon PTA and as such is governed by the National PTA Bylaws and the Oregon PTA State, Council, and Local Unit Bylaws.

Mission

The overall purpose of PTA is to make every child's potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children.

Annual dues

Dues listed are $11.50 per membership, with the majority of dues allocated for the National PTA and Oregon PTA as dictated in the Unified Local Unit Bylaws. Membership must be paid and members must be in good standing in order to vote at the General Meetings.

Meetings

General Meetings and Board Meetings are held at least eight (8) times per school year. Meeting dates shall be set before the start of the school year and published. Meetings may be rescheduled or canceled due to conflicts.

Any community member who wishes to vote in the General Meetings must be an active member of the PTA with their dues paid in full at least 48 hours prior to the start of the meeting. Membership information can be found at www.supportabernethy.org.

Per suggested processes of the Oregon PTA, the Abernethy PTA will furnish a process for community members to bring new business to the board. The Board will create a place for new ideas to be presented. The Board will review the idea and discuss under which purview of existing committees the idea is best suited or if a new committee is needed. The Board will require a motion to move the idea to the committee. The committee will then be assigned that idea or the new committee will be formed. That committee will then report back to the board on progress to date on the implementation of the idea.

(Example: "Abernethy needs more coffee hours" is the idea. That idea is presented and brought forth to the board. The board determines if this is a continuation of an existing position or a new role/area of action. Board votes to assign the idea. Committee lead will then work to put the idea into practice or report back on any issues they are encountering that prevent this from taking place, etc.)

Quorum

A quorum of the Board of Directors shall be a majority of the members of the Board then in office. General Meeting quorum shall be ten (10) voting members of the Abernethy PTA membership community.

General Meetings — order of business

The order of business may include:

  • Welcome
  • Overview of our shared agreements for conducting meetings
  • Call to Order
  • Roll Call
  • Approval of Minutes
  • Officers & Committee Reports
  • Principal Report
  • Unfinished Business
  • New Business
  • Special Topics (i.e. Announcements, Program/Speaker)
  • Open Forum
  • Adjournment

Officers

The 4 Officers of the Abernethy PTA are as follows:

  • Current President (2nd year of 2 year commitment*)
  • Vice President – including Membership (1st year of expected 2 year commitment*)
  • Treasurer (2 year term)
  • Secretary (2 year term)

*VP/Current President candidate is a 2 year commitment with first year as VP and second year as Current President.

  • Current President still must be voted into position for the 2nd year term
  • Prior Abernethy PTA participation encouraged for any nominee for VP

Board

Election of Officers and community input on Committee Chairs shall be before the end of the school year. Officers and Standing Committee Chairs shall assume their duties on July 1st to begin the new fiscal school year.

Nominations

The Nominating Committee, consisting of a minimum of three (3) current PTA members that shall not include either of the Presidents, will be elected by the membership at the March PTA General Meeting. Members elected to the previous year's Nominating Committee are ineligible to serve on this year's Nominating Committee.

The Nominating Committee Report, consisting of the names of one (1) or more willing candidate for each open Officer position, shall be submitted to the PTA board before or at the May PTA Board meeting. This will allow time for questions to be answered about the position (should any arise) and allow the Board to share with the community who has been nominated before the May General meeting. At the May General meeting the elections will be held. Nominating Committee members are eligible to be nominated for open Officer positions.

Any PTA General member may seek nomination for an open Officer position prior to the last General Meeting of the year. Additional nominations may be made from the floor with the consent of the nominee.

In addition, the Nominating Committee will lead recruitment efforts for vacant Standing and Special Committees.

Committees

Per Article IX, Section 1 of the Oregon PTA Local Unit Bylaws, the Executive Committee creates and acknowledges the following Standing Committees necessary to promote the purposes and interest of the Abernethy PTA:

  • Finance
  • Communications (Konstella, Newsletter)
  • Technology (Google Suite, Website, Other Applications)
  • Lead of Leads (Classroom Volunteers)
  • Volunteer Coordinator (Non-Classroom Volunteers)
  • Equity & Inclusion
  • Advocacy
  • Fundraising
  • Grounds

Officers and the Chair of each Standing Committee constitutes the Abernethy PTA Board. Each member of the Board will be entitled to only one vote. Voting appointees must be designated for each Chair position when the Committee Chair position is held by more than one person.

The President appoints the following Special Committees as deemed necessary for operation of the Abernethy PTA:

  • After School Programs
  • Carnival
  • Holiday Shoppe
  • Lost and Found
  • Mini Grants
  • New Family Connections
  • Teacher & Staff appreciation
  • Community Events
  • Yearbook

Fundraisers

In addition, Special Committees are appointed for the primary annual fundraisers. The annual fundraisers may include but are not limited to:

  • Tour de Ladd
  • Annual Appeal
  • Read-a-thon
  • Auction
  • Fun Run
  • Century Campaign
    • community-focused campaign engaging non-parent supporters & businesses
    • proceeds support general PTA priorities including capital improvements
  • Community partnerships (e.g. Dine for Dollars, BottleDrop)

The PTA Fundraising Committee may initiate additional or alternative fundraising events. Additional fundraisers may be initiated as needed by a majority vote at a PTA General Meeting.

Budget

The annual yearly budget for Abernethy PTA is the specific amount that was voted on and approved by the community prior to the closing of that (previous) fiscal year. Total approved expenditures in the budget are limited to this approved amount. Any increase to the total expenditures of the yearly annual budget requires a vote of Abernethy PTA membership at a PTA General Meeting.

The PTA Board approves expenditures within the limits of the budget mentioned above. For purposes of efficiency, the PTA Board assigns the responsibility of specific expenditure line items in the approved budget to the respective Committees. The PTA Treasurer will advise each Committee Chair of the annual approved expenditure limit. The PTA Board will conduct monthly oversight of the Committee expenditures during the monthly budget-to-actuals reconciliation.

The PTA Board may consider up to 10% of the total approved expenditures as discretionary for the purpose of adjusting the annual yearly budget. Budget adjustments are defined as reallocating expenditure between budget line items. Such adjustments will be based on formal requests to the PTA Board. Budget Adjustments must be approved by a majority of PTA Board members. Approval of such adjustments may be conducted at a regular Board meeting or electronic communication.

In order to ensure the financial security of the Abernethy PTA, budgeted funds that are unspent at the conclusion of any fiscal year will be rolled over and held in a reserved Emergency Fund. The Emergency Fund may grow to be up to 150% of the total annual budget. In order to access these funds, the PTA Board must conduct an in-person vote to approve the expenditure. If the requested emergency expenditure meets or exceeds 10% of the total budget and is approved by the Board, an additional General Membership vote to approve the expenditure is required.

Per Article VIII, Section 3 of the Oregon PTA Local Unit Bylaws, item (f) of the Oregon PTA Local Unit Bylaws, the PTA Board shall approve a budget prepared by the General Ledger/Treasurer for the following fiscal school year. The annual yearly budget shall be reviewed and approved by the last PTA General of the school year to be adopted for the following fiscal year.

Standing Rules

Standing Rules shall be available to the community at www.supportabernethy.org. These rules may be read aloud by request at any meeting. The Standing Rules for a given year are in effect until a review and vote on the new year Standing Rules take place. They may be amended at any General Meeting by a 2/3-majority vote of the active PTA members present.