Wellesley Special Education Parent Advisory Council

Bylaws

(2025)

Article I: Name of Organization

The name of this organization shall be the Wellesley Special Education Parent Advisory Council, also known as

the Wellesley SEPAC (hereafter referred to as the “SEPAC”).

Article II: Purpose of the SEPAC

The SEPAC receives its legal authority from Section 3 of Chapter 71B Massachusetts General Laws (M.G.L.) and the Code of Massachusetts Regulations (CMR) 603 CMR 28:07 (4) under the parent involvement section.

Massachusetts law mandates the SEPAC and its duties include, but are not limited to:

Advising the school district on matters that pertain to the education and safety of students with disabilities.
Meeting regularly with school officials.
Participating in the planning, development, and evaluation of the school district’s special education programs.

The mission of the SEPAC is to work for understanding of, respect for, and support of all children with special needs in the community. To that end, SEPAC will work to:

Promote a network of parents of children with special needs and provide a forum to share information and discuss matters of concern and interest for children with special needs.
Advise the Assistant Superintendent of Student Services, Director of Special Education, Superintendent of Schools, and Wellesley School Committee, and others on operations of special education services, parent and teacher training needs, and other needs within the Special Education community.
Assist with the development of school district policy, reports/data to be integrated into the regular reports and plans sent to the Department of Education; and review and completion of such materials prior to their being finalized.
Promote communication between SEPAC members, local, state and national organizations, councils and groups that support children with special needs.
Promote communication and programs within the community to encourage understanding, acceptance and inclusion of children with special needs.
Provide informational forums to parents, educators, students and professionals involved with children with special needs. This will include collaboration with parent/teacher groups, school councils, PTOs, and other school organizations towards the betterment of education in the school district; and exploration of opportunities for parents and school personnel to participate in joint training to foster mutual understanding.
Promote communication and collaboration among parents, teachers, administrators and other service providers within the Special Education community.
Serve as a resource and support network for parents/guardians of children with special needs regarding procedures, educational, and non-educational issues.
Support and promote equal educational opportunities for all special needs children.

Article III: Policies

The SEPAC will be non-commercial, non-sectarian and non-partisan. The name of this organization, or the name of any members in their official capacities, shall not be used in any connection with a commercial concern or any partisan interest or for any purpose other than the regular work of the organization.

Subsequent to determination OML 2021-150 issued by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Division of Open Government, the SEPAC chooses to operate outside the provisions of Open Meeting Law with no exceptions.

Executive Board members are permitted to merely perform an administrative function on behalf of the SEPAC as a whole (such as scheduling and running meetings, relaying information between the membership and school officials, sharing resources, and planning programs).

Article IV: Terms of Membership

As used in these bylaws, the word “member” means general members, voting members or both, as the context indicates.

Section 1: General Membership

General membership shall be open to any interested person. General membership responsibilities include electing the SEPAC Executive Board (Article V).

Section 2: Voting Membership

Voting membership shall be limited to any general member who:

Is a parent or guardian of a student with documented special needs residing in or attending school in Wellesley with or without an Individual Education Program (IEP) or a Section 504 Accommodation Plan;
Who has attended at least one meeting of the SEPAC during the past twelve (12) months; and
Is a current or past Board Member or current or past member of one of the standing or special committees within the past three (3) years.

Voting membership responsibilities include approving significant financial decisions, nominating the SEPAC Executive Board, and voting on changes to the bylaws (Article XI).

Article V: Officers of the SEPAC

The Executive Board of the SEPAC shall be comprised of a Chair (or two equal Co-Chairs), Secretary (or two equal Co-Secretaries), and Treasurer. All Executive Board members shall be voting members of the SEPAC, elected per the provisions of Article VIII. Executive Board members may, from time to time, delegate any of their duties to another officer.

The duties of the Executive Board shall include:

Co-Chairpersons

Set the agenda for each general meeting.
Preside at all meetings of the SEPAC.
Recommend the organization and monitor the function of committees and sub-committees and appoint committee members.
Act as liaison between parents of students with disabilities or suspected disabilities and the Assistant Superintendent of Student Services and other special education administrators.
Prepare periodic reports for special education administrators regarding SEPAC activities and needs.
Represent and speak on behalf of the SEPAC at meetings of the School Committee.
Represent and speak on behalf of the SEPAC at meetings of the Central Council of the PTOs.
Make an annual presentation to the School Committee.
Oversee creation and appropriate distribution of SEPAC informational material.
Draft goals to guide the organization and present those goals at the first meeting of the school year.
Execute and supervise responsibilities related to contracts and agreements in the organization’s behalf, and sign any such contracts and agreements on behalf of the Executive Board.
Oversee recruitment of new parent leaders and members.

Secretary

Maintain an accurate attendance log.
Coordinate the recording, filing, and posting of minutes of the SEPAC and its committees.
Publicize SEPAC meetings and events.
Collect and review all correspondence of the SEPAC
Coordinate announcements in district calendar and PTO newsletters.

Treasurer

Coordinate efforts to apply for grants, donations, reimbursements or any other funds for which SEPAC may be eligible.
Manage and account for funds collected or donated for the SEPAC.
Manage and account for funds spent by the SEPAC.
Arrange disbursements as authorized by the Executive Board or SEPAC. Disbursements for non-budgeted items must be approved by the Executive Board and is limited to $50. Disbursements for non-budgeted items exceeding $50 must be approved by a majority vote of the voting members at a SEPAC meeting.
Monitor and coordinate the financing of fundraising activities.

Article VI: Committees

The Chair(s), with input from the Board, may create standing and special committees to promote the purpose and interest of the SEPAC. Committee involvement shall be on a voluntary basis. The Chair(s) shall be an ex-officio member of all standing and special committees.

School Representatives Committee

Comprised of one or more general members who are parents from each elementary, middle, and high school, and including one or more general member parents who have students with an out-of-district placement or homeschooling. School Representatives duties include:

Recruit members and hold committee meetings, as necessary.
Provide annual objectives to the Executive Board (see Article V) at the beginning of the year.
Publicize SEPAC events and announcements in school PTO newsletters.
Report committee activities to the Executive Board and the full membership.
Coordinate fund raising activities (as needed).

Programing Committee

Comprised of one or more general member.

Participate in determining program schedule, topics, presenters, and other information for SEPAC’s educational meetings.
Coordinate logistics for one or more educational programs.
Responsible for announcements in district calendar and school newsletters.

The Executive Board may create special committees as needed. Examples of special committees include Program Development, Parent Support, Resource/Information, Legislative Issues, and Liaison Coordinator.

Article VII: Voting/Quorum

A quorum of no less than three (3) voting members must be present (virtually or in person) to constitute a meeting.

Article VIII: Elections

Executive Board members of the SEPAC are elected by the general membership and shall take office of the July 1st following their election, and run until June 30th of the following year. Annual elections shall typically occur in the May/June timeframe. All voting members, as defined in Article IV, are eligible to make nominations. If any office becomes vacant, a special election for that office shall be held at the next monthly meeting with one or more nominees, with the term to expire June 30th following the election.

Elections and special elections shall be decided by a simple majority vote (50% plus one) of the general membership present at the meeting, subject to the presence of a quorum. New Executive Board members shall take office July 1st following their election.

Any Executive Board member may resign by delivering a written notice of resignation by mail, in person or by email to the Assistant Superintendent of Student Services and the SEPAC Chair. Resignation shall be effective immediately upon such delivery unless the resignation is slated to be effective at another time.

An Executive Board member may be removed with or without cause by vote of the voting members.

The SEPAC will inform the school district of the outcome of the annual elections and the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the new board by July 1st of each year.

Article IX: Meetings

Meetings are defined as any SEPAC business meeting, election meeting, or committee or subcommittee meeting at which a quorum is met.

The number of meetings to be held each year and the dates of those meetings shall be determined annually by the Executive Board. Business meetings are to be held no fewer than three (3) times per year. Advanced notice of any and all business meetings shall be announced on the SEPAC webpage with reasonable notice. Meetings shall be conducted by the Chair (or Co-Chairs) who shall set the agenda, determine the length of discussions, recognize participation, and conduct votes of the voting membership as needed.

Voting Members shall make a good faith attempt, whenever possible, to elicit input from the general membership before taking a vote on a particular item.

Minutes of all SEPAC meetings shall be recorded and made available upon request.

The SEPAC shall hold an Annual Meeting for the purpose of electing Executive Board members and to vote on any matters as shall be specified in the notice of such meeting.

Article X: Conflict of Interest

Any member of the Executive Board who has a financial, personal, or official interest in, or conflict (or appearance of a conflict) with any matter pending before the SEPAC, of such nature that it prevents or may prevent that member from acting on the matter in an impartial manner, will offer to the Board to voluntarily excuse themselves and will vacate their seat and refrain from discussion and voting on said item.

Article XI: Amendments

These bylaws may be amended at any SEPAC meeting by a majority vote of the voting members present, but bylaw changes may not be voted upon in the same meeting as they are proposed, unless a quorum (as described in Article VII) votes unanimously to approve the change.

Article XII: Review of Bylaws

The Executive Board shall review these bylaws every two (2) years.

Bylaws adopted February 14, 2025.