For the past month, the Student Council has worked to expand and improve the EHS Constitution. In order for their proposed changes to be ratified, the student body must vote to approve the new constitution.
During the class meetings on Thursday, students voted to ratify the new changes made to the EHS Constitution. The changes ranged from corrections in grammar to adding a new officer position. During the class meetings, students simply were asked to vote “Yes, I approve of the changes” or “No, I do not approve of the changes” to each section.
Below is a summary of the changes to each section, as provided by the Student Council.
Grammatical changes: Throughout the constitution, minor changes were made to the spelling and grammar to fix errors.
Article I: Changes the name from the Elmiral Associated Student Body to the Elmira Associated Student Body.
Article II: Expands the definition of a student body member.
Article III: Changes the name of Article III to Officers & Their Duties. Adds the publicity manager as an officer. Specifies that the faculty adviser may have the ability to break ties. Establishes the ASB president as the chair of every meeting.
Article IV: Specifies that all class elected officers, as well as members-at-large, may be full voting members of the Student Council. Establishes that the faculty adviser may not vote or propose motions except in special cases. Establishes the ASB secretary as being in charge of taking the meeting minutes for the Student Council.
Article V: Makes running for office easier for candidates. Establishes that all class elections are to be held in a similar fashion to the Student Body elections, unless stated otherwise.
Article VI: Grants more freedom to classes in creating their own constitutions and bylaws.
Article VII: Allows for clubs to have the option of creating a constitution.
Article VIII: Clarifies how bylaws function and are introduced.
Article IX: Minor clarifications to how an impeachment petition would function.
Article X: No changes.
Article XI: No changes.
Article XII: Allows for an impeachment to begin via a vote of the Student Council. Clarifies how an impeachment would take place. Requires a ¾ majority vote of the Student Council to remove any elected officer from office.
Article XIII: Creates Order of Succession to the Presidency in cases in which the ASB president is unable to fulfill their duties. States that class presidents shall also be subject to said Order of Succession, unless overwritten by class constitutions or bylaws.
Article XIV: No changes.
Authorization of Article XV: Creates a 15th Article to the Constitution, which allows for the Student Council to make exceptions to rules stated in this constitution in times of emergency.
