Student Senate Constitution
1. The Purpose of the Student Senate
The Lincoln Sudbury Student Senate is a body of students elected by their peers to represent and work towards the interests of the student body as well as the greater LS community.
The Student Senate’s primary responsibility is to serve as an intermediary between the student body and LS faculty by representing student interests in administrative decision making, and keeping students informed of pertinent administrative processes.
The Student Senate also works to bring students, faculty, and administration together, and exists as a venue for seeking mutual understanding, cooperation, and compromise on issues of contention between students and faculty or administration.
Beyond its representative intermediary role, the Student Senate will work in any feasible capacity to serve the interests of the LS student body and the greater LS community.
2. The Work of the Senate
a. The Senate meets regularly at least once every other week.
b. Each class has a Senate representation proportional to its size.
c. Each Senator has equal voice and all votes count equally. The decisions are made by the majority of the Senators present. In special circumstances, votes by proxy will be permitted. The faculty advisor may express his or her opinion in the meeting but does not have a vote.
d. The meetings of the Senate are open to the student body in general unless there is a compelling reason to hold a closed meeting.
e. The Senate will communicate regularly with the student body. In particular, the Senate will maintain a bulletin board and will organize a forum at least once per semester informing the student body about the key issues under consideration.
f. The Senate will meet with the representatives of the faculty to discuss pertinent issues.
3. Responsibilities of Senators and Officers
a. The Senators
i. The Senators seek ways to improve students’ experience at school.
ii. The Senators solicit students’ opinion about important school issues and bring the concerns of their constituents to the Senate.
iii. The Senators attend Senate meetings and participate in its discussions.
iv. The Senators perform the tasks that the Senate undertakes and communicate their progress in a timely manner.
v. Senators who are negligent in their attendance or participation in the work of the Senate will be removed from the Senate (section 4 below).
b. The President.
In addition to fulfilling the duties of any Senator,
i. The President prepares the agenda for Senate meetings in consultation with the Vice President and the Advisor(s).
ii. The President moderates Student Senate meetings.
iii. The President communicates regularly with the superintendent/principal. The Presidents briefs the Senate about the content of that communication.
iv. The President is responsible for arranging communication with the School Committee: The President either attends School Committee meetings or delegates this duty to another Senator. The President briefs the Senate about the School Committee meetings.
v.The President makes sure that the tasks that the Senate undertakes are accomplished in a timely fashion.
vi. The President makes sure that the community at large receives information about the work of the Senate.
c. The Vice President
i. The Vice President acts as the head of the Senate if the President is not present.
ii. The Vice President serves as the treasurer of the Senate and is responsible for information about Senate’s financial situation.
d. The Secretary (or Secretaries)
i.The Secretary records Senate attendance.
ii.The Secretary records the minutes of the Senate and makes them public.
iii. Whenever possible, the Secretary publishes the agenda of the Senate to the public before the meeting.
4.The Election of the Student Senate and Senate Officers
a. The Senate Officers together with the Senate Advisor(s) choose a date in late Spring or early Fall when the elections to the Student Senate will occur for Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors, and a date in the Fall when elections will occur for Freshmen.
b. The Senate Officers assist the Senate Advisor(s) in preparation for the elections. The vote count is performed by the Advisor(s).
c. Each class elects one senator per fifty students with the class population rounded to the nearest fifty.
d. To be on the ballot, candidates need to turn in written statement of their intentions by the deadline specified by the Senate Officers and the Advisor(s). The statement of intent are shared with the entire community.
e. One of the first meetings of the new Senate, possibly before the election of Freshmen to the Senate, is devoted to speeches by the candidates for Senate Offices and to elections of the Officers. The Officers are elected by the majority vote.
5. The Removal of the Senators
a. Senators who miss two consecutive Senate meetings without an excuse presented to the President or the Advisor(s) will be removed from the Senate. Their councilors will be notified and they will lose the right to quote participation in the Student Senate on their college applications.
b. Senators who do not participate in the work of the Senate may be asked by the President to resign or counseled to improve their contribution to the Senate.
c. If a Senator is removed from office or resigns, a runner up from the same grade will be invited to join the senate.
6. Amending the Constitution
A two-thirds majority vote by the Senate is needed to amend the Constitution, with a clear majority of the Senate in attendance.