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SunRidge School Parent Council
Parent Council Mission Statement

As parents are at the heart of our school, the SunRidge Parent Council facilitates all cultural and social activities and supports the school’s overall operations. Parent Council reps serve as motivators, as channels of information, and as the eyes, ears and heart of their class.


I. Mission and Purpose

The public and charitable purposes of the SunRidge Parent Council (SRPC) are that it shall be operated exclusively for the benefit of the SunRidge Charter School, a California public charter school.

The Parent Council will:

  • Sponsor school committees, cultural activities, social activities, clubs, and fundraising events in collaboration with school administrators and the faculty.
  • Be a forum for learning about the school's educational program and discussing matters of interest or concern to parents.
  • Act as a communication channel between parents and the administration, parents and faculty, and parents and the Charter Council.
  • Allocate Parent Council fundraised monies - using established spending priorities as a guide for benefiting the school's overall operations.
  • Elect parent and community representatives to the Charter Council from nominees proposed by the Charter Council through the designated nomination process.
  • Coordinate with the Charter Council through a variety of means, including joint meetings, having a Parent Council representative attend Charter Council meetings, sharing minutes, etc. The school Director and a faculty representative will be invited to participate at regularly scheduled meetings.

II. Structure

The Parent Council shall be comprised of parent representatives from each class of SunRidge Charter School, selected by the parents in each class in a fair manner determined by each class.
Representatives will serve two-year terms. The first year will be as an “alternative”/”back-up” to the “lead’ rep serving their second year. The second year will be as the “lead” rep, who assists a new “alternate” rep in learning the role of a SRPC member.

By June of each year, the PC shall fill these positions for the following year:

  • Chair, who develops the agenda, serves as the “hub” for communication related to the general business and activities of the SRPC, and facilitates SRPC meetings.  A person other than the Chair may serve as meeting facilitator if so decided by the SRPC
  • Secretary, who will record and distribute minutes
  • Treasurer, who maintains the SRPC bank account and financial records, provides regular financial reports to the SRPC, and writes and distributes checks for approved SRPC expenses
  • Volunteer Coordinator, who facilitates and coordinates volunteer efforts at the school, acting as a liaison between the SRPC, Charter Council, Faculty, Administration and parent body.
  • Fundraising Coordinator, who oversees the coordination and implementation of the fundraising plan approved by the SRPC each year

III. The Role of Parent Council Representatives

  • PC reps will carry out the responsibilities of the SRPC as delineated in the school’s charter and included under “Section I. Mission and Purpose”, above.

      In addition:

  • A PC rep serves as the eyes, ears and heart of their class. Their job is to listen to, and inquire into, the needs, questions, suggestions, complaints, ideas for change etc, of parents in their class, regarding school life & the allocation of monies raised by parents. The PC reps will bring those to PC meetings and report back to their class regarding discussion and decisions made by PC.
  • A PC rep serves as the channel through which all PC info and decisions are brought to the parent body. It is the rep’s responsibility to report to their class, after each meeting, (via email, a posted letter, or both) conveying decisions, information, requests for volunteers, and other PC business.
  • A PC rep serves as a motivator for their class. It is their job to be a liaison between the school’s needs for volunteers (generated by PC or Volunteer Committee) and the parents in their class. Apart from posting volunteer needs notices, a PC rep may approach individual parents in their class who may fit the need, and act as motivator and inspirer for projects to be completed.
  • All lead reps are asked to take a turn writing a few paragraphs for the school’s Bulletin, communicating highlights from the PC meeting (a monthly rotation will require each lead rep to perform this task only once a year). This will give the whole school a window into the work of the Parent Council, and will keep everyone informed and connected. The alternate rep will fill this task when the lead rep is unable to attend a meeting, and it is their class’ turn.


IV. Parent Council Meetings

  • The Parent Council will meet at least once per month from September through June, and may meet by agreement during the summer months. Meetings are scheduled for the 1st Monday of the month, from 7:00-9:00PM, unless otherwise decided at a previous meeting.
  • SRPC meetings will be held in either the SunRidge Community Room or a SunRidge classroom according to an agreed upon schedule.
  • The SRPC strives to conduct its business by consensus. All who are present at a meeting are encouraged to voice their thoughts, but when a motion is voted upon, only SRPC members may vote and each class has only one vote (i.e. one voice from each class is counted as that class’ final input). The “lead” rep will provide their class’ “vote”, or the “alternate” in the lead’s absence.
  • Meetings will be facilitated by the designated facilitator and minutes will be kept of the proceedings.  Roles of timekeeper and “vision holder” may also be assigned as needed or desired. All lead reps may take a turn in serving as the PC “vision holder” for one meeting (a monthly rotation will require each lead rep to perform this task only once a year). The “vision holder” will keep in mind the school’s mission statement and the PC mission statement, and will bring them to the groups’ attention when they observe the discussion straying too far from those mission statements.

V. Procedural Guidelines for Fundraising and Expenditures

            Management and Budgeting of Funds

  • The Parent Council will maintain a bank account at Wells Fargo Bank in the name of “SRPC.”
  • By May of each year, the SRPC will complete a process for setting spending priorities for the following year and approve the allocation of funds for the following year based on the priorities.
  • A designated SRPC finance committee reviews the established spending priorities and the existing fund balance and prepares a proposed budget for the upcoming year. This should occur before the June SRPC meeting.
  • At the June SRPC meeting, the proposed budget is reviewed, changed as needed, and approved by the full Parent Council. Line item approvals are then forwarded to the Treasurer for inclusion as “encumberances” in the budget for that year. Additional funding approvals may occur during the year as needed or desired. Such approvals are immediately forwarded to the SRPC treasurer for inclusion in the budget.
  • By June of each year SRPC shall designate an amount of money to be used for festivals and special events, parent education, music and sports scholarships, and other approved uses. This money will remain in the SRPC account and be allocated by the SRPC treasurer as approved by the SRPC.
  • Funds remaining in the SRPC account after the above money has been allocated may be designated for approved site/facility improvements and teacher and staff education/training. Funds designated for these purposes will be transferred to the SunRidge Educational Foundation, which will manage and dispense funds for those purposes.
  • Requests to the SunRidge Educational Foundation or the Parent council for funding of educational programs or staffing at SunRidge must come from the SunRidge faculty, administration, or charter council. Funding approved for these purposes by the SRPC will be transferred to SunRidge School, and the school’s administration will utilize those funds for the designated purpose in a manner consistent with the school’s operating policies and procedures.

Fundraising and Expense Reimbursements

    • During the year, every funded event or activity will have a designated coordinator. Coordinators are responsible for planning and executing the event or activity so that expenses are kept within the approved budgeted amount. Anyone wanting to incur an expense for an event or activity for which they will want reimbursement must first get that expense approved by the event or activity coordinator. SRPC reimbursement requests should be submitted on the approved form to the office and must be accompanied by an original receipt for the amount requested.
    • The event or activity coordinator is responsible for approving all reimbursement requests and relaying them to the SRPC treasurer in a timely manner. The coordinator will also be responsible for ensuring that all income from events or sales under his/her oversight is properly collected, recorded, and transferred to the treasurer for deposit.
    • The SRPC treasurer will maintain a record of all requests, reimbursements and other expenses, and deposits. The treasurer will provide an updated financial report to the SRPC at least quarterly, showing the overall budget, encumberances, a detail of all expenses to date, a detail of all income to date, and fund balances to date.