Question: Bylaws in question regarding how long a consecutive term is

If someone becomes President 1 or even 2 months into a school year and then is reelected again the following year does this mean they have served 2 consecutive terms? If so, can they run the 3rd year for President again if the bylaws state the following: Officers and their election ·Officers of this organization shall consist of a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. ·Officers shall be elected by ballot in the month of April. However, if there is but one nominee for any office, election for that office may be a voice vote. ·Officers shall assume their official duties following the close of the meeting in May and shall serve for a term of one (1) year or until their successors are elected. ·A person shall not be eligible to serve more than two (2) consecutive terms in the same office. In the event that there are no nominees for that office, the current holder may hold office for a third consecutive term. Our current President is claiming that she can run for a 3rd year, and placed her name on the voting ballot b/c she says that "technically" she hasn't been President for 2 full consecutive terms/years. Please tell me what you think and then I have more to ask. Thank you

Asked by Anonymous

Answers:

Advice from PTO Today

Craig writes:
This is a gray area that your bylaws don't address specifically. To make a decision, I'd go back to the intent of the rule. By creating a bylaw with term limits, your group has decided it's important to have new leaders and new energy to keep the group from getting stagnant or cliquish. If someone takes over in January and so is president for a year and a half instead of two years, you could certainly argue that it wouldn't violate the intent of the rule to let that person serve for another term. But if someone is president for 99 weeks out of a possible 104 (two years), I'd say the concern about stagnation etc. is the same as if the person served for the entire two years. So in that case, my opinion is that the person wouldn't be eligible to run again if there is someone else willing and able to do the job.