Dear Brookdale Families:

We write to update you on several important topics:

1. HSA Elections.
2. Candidates.

The candidates for the HSA elections are as follows:

• Co-President: Tina Gallina
• Secretary: John Nance; Amanda Pinales
• Collecting Treasurer: Lisa Chelpic, Jenn Laino
• Distributing Treasurer: Michele Camacho

Additionally, in the interest of full disclosure, we would like to let the membership know that there was an additional person interested in the co-president position.  However, our operative by-laws state that candidates for co-president must have held a position on the executive board for one out of the prior five years.  IF there is NO CANDIDATE meeting this criterion, then the position is open to all.  Ms. Gallina declared her candidacy for this position and she has served on the board for two of the past five years, therefore she meets the qualification.  The other interested person has not served on the board and given that there is a candidate who meets the criterion, the other person is not eligible to run for co-president.  We extended an offer to that person to run for any other board position, which as discussed at length, do not have pre-qualifications.  That person declined to do so.

Although this may seem unfair, the majority of the board, along with Ms. Barton, believes that we need to follow the by-laws currently in place.  Since the current board has been in place, we have attempted to comply with our by-laws and standard procedures as much as possible.  For example, we eliminated the assistant treasurer position because it is not provided for in the by-laws.  Similarly, we declined when asked to create a vice-president or at-large position because it is not listed in the by-laws.  Although our efforts are not perfect, we believe that compliance with the by-laws is the necessary solution.

1. Procedures.

Each candidate will have three (3) minutes to speak at the April 18^th HSA meeting.  There will be no question/answer session.  After all the candidates have spoken, a vote will be taken by secret ballot.  The votes will be counted that night by Jenn Harvey and Jaennine Gonzalez in the presence of Ms. Barton and winners will be announced at the conclusion of the meeting.

2. By-Laws Committee

Given the issue set forth above, as well as other issues that have been discussed at the last meeting and since, the Board believes it is in the best interest of the membership to form a By-Laws Committee that will be responsible for taking the current and draft by-laws, discussing and revising them as necessary and preparing them for public vote to take place in June of this year.  If you are interested in serving on the committee, please contact Samantha.

3. Scholarship Committee

Each year the Brookdale HSA provides a $500 scholarship to a graduating Bloomfield High School senior.  Volunteers are needed to review the applications and determine the winner of the scholarship.  If you are interested in helping, it takes about two hours to review the applications.  Please contact Jen G.

4. Tricky Tray 

Our Tricky Tray fundraiser is just a few short weeks away.  Please join us for a night of fun and prizes.  Admission tickets are now available for purchase either by sending a check made payable to Brookdale HSA or at squareup.com/store/brookdale-hsa/

Prize raffle tickets are also available and will be sold at the door.  Cash, checks and credit cards will be accepted at the event.

Thank you for everything you do for our children!

Please be advised that the HSA has extended the deadline to declare intentions to run for an executive board position until Monday, March 19th at 8:00 AM.  The reason for this is confusion over which version of the by-laws is currently applicable and the prerequisites for running for such positions.

The criteria currently in place states that anyone may run for a board position so long as that person is a member in good standing of the association (meaning that the member has paid their HSA dues).  With regard to the Co-President position, the prerequisite under the current bylaws states that the candidate must have served on the Executive Board for one year during the previous five years.  Thus, the candidate must have held an Executive Board position for one school year since the 2013-2014 school year.  In the absence of any qualified candidate for the Co-President position, this requirement will be waived.

With regard to by-laws, due to the nature of the comments received, and to allow sufficient time for the membership to review the final proposed version prior to the vote, the Executive Board collectively decided to postpone the vote until April’s meeting.  A copy of the final proposed by-laws will be circulated and posted on the HSA Form & Policy Library page next week.  A copy of the current (2012) by-laws, as well as the initial proposed revisions, are also posted on the HSA Form & Policy Library.  At the April meeting, the vote for new officers will precede the vote on the by-laws.

As always, if there are any questions, please feel free to reach out to any of the Executive Board members.  More information about how to contact the Executive Board can be found at About the Brookdale HSA.