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BROWARD FOOTBALL OFFICIALS
ASSOCIATION
ARTICLE I. PRESIDENT
Section 1. The
President shall act as the Chief Executive of the Broward Football
Officials Association - Football (BFOA). The President shall preside at
all meetings of the BFOA general membership and the Board of Directors.
The President shall carry out all the other usual duties of this
office and has authority to suspend members temporarily when events
warrant such action pending review and action by the Board of Directors.
ARTICLE II. VICE PRESIDENT
Section 1. The Vice
President, in the absence or incapacity of the President, is vested with
the powers and duties of the President. This individual shall perform
all other duties as may from time to time be assigned by the President
or the Board of Directors.
ARTICLE III. SECRETARY
Section 1. The Secretary
shall keep a chronological record of the entire general membership and
Board of Directors meetings. This individual shall, from time to time as
directed by the President, submit the record of the previous meetings to
the general membership for approval as the official minutes of this
association. This individual shall prepare and distribute all notices
as required by the President or the Board of Directors.
ARTICLE IV. TREASURER
Section 1. The
Treasurer shall collect and have charge of all fees and dues. This
individual shall place all monies of the BFOA into one fund from which all
expenses
and disbursements shall be made as
authorized by the Board. He/she shall maintain an account of all BFOA
funds in a bank approved by the Board. The Treasurer will co-sign all
checks with the President.
ARTICLE V. AT LARGE DIRECTORS
Section 1. The at Large Directors shall receive
and investigate all applications for membership, and after review by the
Board of Directors, notify each candidate of acceptance or rejection.
Accepted members will be furnished all related FHSAA publications as well
as a copy of the Constitution and By-laws.
Section 2. The three
at Large Directors shall perform all duties as assigned from time to time
by the President or the Board of Directors.
ARTICLE VI. BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Section 1. The
Board of Directors (Board) will consist of the elected officers of this
association and will serve as the governing body of the BFOA.
Section 2. The Board
will audit and thereafter accept or reject the Treasurer’s bi-annual
financial report.
Section 3. The Board
will appoint an Evaluation Committee, Assignment Committee, Recommendation
Committee, Grievance Committee and Training Committee and any others as
may from time to time be deemed necessary. These committees will have
membership composition, duties and responsibilities as defined in the
FHSAA Officials Guidebook under Local Officials Associations – Committees.
The term of appointments to committees will be the same as the term of
the Board, two years, except that the terms of the Assignment Committee
and Recommendations Committee each of which shall be for one year. This
provision shall not be interpreted as limiting the number of years, or
consecutive years that any member may serve on these, or any other
committee. The Board retains the right to dismiss any committee or any
committee appointee when deemed necessary.
Section 4. The Board
will receive and review any grievance from the Grievance Committee.
Section 5. The Board,
with recommendations from the Evaluation Committee, has the responsibility
for establishing and exercising the guidelines for evaluation and annual
approval of existing varsity referees. The potential new varsity referees
must be reviewed and approved by the Board and the BCAA Commissioner
before promotion to the varsity level.
Section 6. The Board
shall have the power to fine, suspend or expel from the organization any
member found in violation of the Constitution, By-Laws, Rules of Conduct,
or Code of Ethics as established and published by the FHSAA or National
Federation of High School Associations. The BCAA Commissioner shall be
notified, in writing, of all such disciplinary actions or recommendations.
Section 7. A member
disciplined by the BFOA Board has the right to appeal any imposed sanction
to the general membership. Written notification of intent to appeal must
be submitted to the Secretary within 14 days of the Board’s final action.
The appeal will be presented at a regular or special general meeting
called for this purpose. The President will present all facts and hearing
findings to the general membership. A two-thirds vote of the general
membership shall be necessary to reverse a Board’s action regarding a
disciplined member. The Board will not seek further review if its’ action
is reversed by the general membership vote.
Section 8. A
disciplined member who does not obtain reversal of a Board-imposed
sanction from the general membership shall have the right to seek a review
by the FHSAA for final adjudication, in accord with procedures established
by that organization.
Section 9. The Board
of Directors shall meet a minimum of once per month. An agenda shall be
established prior to each meeting. Minutes of each meeting shall be
posted on the association website once they have been approved at the
subsequent board meeting.
ARTICLE VII. BOOKING COMMISSIONER
Section 1. The
Booking Commissioner must abide by the Constitution and By-Laws of the
BFOA when assigning officials. Those members deemed not to be in good
standing with the FHSAA or BFOA are specifically prohibited from receiving
game assignments. The assignments shall not be altered or exchanged
without prior consent of the Booking Commissioner.
Section 2. The Booking
Commissioner will make assignments consistent with the members’
classification. He/she shall have the authority to assign members from
lower classification only in circumstances when appropriate level
officials are not available.
ARTICLE VIII. CLASSIFICATIONS
Section 1. All
members of the BFOA will be classified by the classification system
consistent with that of the FHSAA.
Section 2. The
Evaluation Committee will evaluate officials transferring into the BFOA
from out of state or another FHSAA association before they can be assigned
to a varsity game.
ARTICLE IX. GAME FEES
Section 1. Varsity
and junior varsity game fees will be set by the FHSAA in the Officials’
Guidebook. The travel fee will be set by negotiations by the Board with
the BCAA Commissioner.
Section 2. The Board
shall negotiate with appropriate BCAA officers for the purpose of
obtaining payment of the highest game fees possible.
ARTICLE X. MEMBERSHIP AND DUES
Section 1. Members
with good standing with the FHSAA will be granted membership in the BFOA.
Section 2. Admission
into the BFOA membership shall be applied for on the Board mandated
application form. The membership year shall begin annually on August 1 and
will end on July 31 of the following year.
Section 3. Each member
shall pay annual dues to the BFOA in an amount set by the membership at
the Association’s last scheduled meeting of the prior year.
Section 4. Those
members who have not paid their dues within 30 days of the first regularly
scheduled general meeting will be deemed “not to be in good standing” and
will remain in that status until all dues are paid in full. BCAA dues will
be consistent. Additional dues may be added by the BFOA, subject to audit
by the BCAA.
ARTICLE XI. GENERAL
Section 1. BFOA
members are permitted to join, and participate in officiating
interscholastic football games with members of, other FHSAA-sanctioned
associations. However, BFOA members must give first preference to BFOA
assignments whenever there is conflict with those of other interscholastic
or lower-level officiating organizations.
Section 2. In
compliance with FHSAA Rules, the BFOA Board will develop and submit to the
BCAA Commissioner specific rules of conduct to be followed by each member
as stated on the BFOA application form, i.e., reporting time, dress,
missed assignments, etc. Rules and corresponding penalties will be
approved by the membership.
Section 3. All
information requests from any member, committee or officer must be
addressed promptly. Extension of response must be in writing for
consideration by the Board. Failure to comply with provisions of this
section either through negligence or for any other reason shall be
regarded as obstructing the best interest of this association. Such action
may be grounds for the Board to find the member “not to be in good
standing”.
ARTICLE XII. MEETINGS
Section 1. A
quorum for a meeting will constitute one-third (1/3) of the general
membership in the BFOA.
Section 2. Any member,
in good standing, who misses two (2) consecutive meetings (unexcused),
shall be suspended for a one-week period commencing with the next
assignment period. Members seeking approval to be absent from meetings
must submit reasons in writing to the Board.
Section 3. The
President shall establish the Order of Business at all meetings.
Section 4. Robert’s
Rules of Order shall control all parliamentary questions in the conduct of
all meetings, except wherein conflict with specific articles of these
By-Laws.
The Sergeant-at-Arms may remove
unruly members when instructed by the President.
ARTICLE XIII. AMENDMENTS
Section 1. The
By-Laws will be automatically amended to comply with any newly enacted
requirements of the FHSAA.
Section 2. Any member
in good standing may sponsor an amendment to the By-Laws. A preliminary
draft of a proposed amendment may be submitted to the Board of Directors
at any meeting for inclusion on the agenda (presentation to the general
membership followed by discussion) at the next meeting. The final draft
of a proposed amendment must be submitted to the Board of Directors no
later than the next-to-last meeting of the year. Amendments to change the
By-Laws will be voted on by roll call ballot at the last scheduled meeting
of the year.
ARTICLE XIV. PLAYOFF RECOMMENDATIONS
Section 1.
As provided in Article VI, Section 3 of these By-Laws, the Recommendations
Committee will be appointed by the Board of Directors in accord with FHSAA
guidelines. The composition of the committee will be determined and
communicated to the general membership no later than the scheduled general
meeting proceeding the first week of interscholastic contests. The Board
of Directors shall determine the number of 5-man and 7-man crews to be
recommended by the Committee.
Section 2. The Board of Directors shall, prior to the first week of
interscholastic contests, determine the deadline by which the
Recommendations Committee will present the details (to include the
composition and number of each crew) of their planned recommendations to
the general membership for approval. If any member selected for a playoff
assignment cannot or does not accept their playoff assignment, the
Recommendations Committee will select a replacement prior to the final
submission to the FHSAA. The Committee will adhere to all stated FHSAA and
BFOA selection criteria in choosing the replacements.
Section 3. When determining the composition of playoff crews, the
Recommendations Committee shall consider, at a minimum, evaluation results
that are available from the previous and current seasons, the current
year’s exam score and FHSAA ranking, and each eligible member’s
availability during playoff dates. The Recommendations Committee may
create other factors, at its discretion, for determining playoff crews,
provided such does not conflict with any criteria stated in these Bylaws
or the FHSAA Officials Manual. In addition, the Committee will adhere to
and observe the following criteria and guidelines:
a. Members who have
been selected to a varsity crew for the current year will be considered
for playoff crew assignment. Members who have not been selected to a
varsity crew for the current year shall be considered for playoff crew
assignment if the BCAA Booking Commissioner reasonably anticipates that
the member will officiate at least eight (8) varsity contests on the field
in the current year and the member has been registered as a football
official with the FHSAA for at least ten (10) full years prior to the
current year and has officiated varsity football, on the field, in the
State of Florida, for at least five (5) of the preceding seven (7) full
years. For the purposes of this article, a full year consists of
officiating no less than eight (8) varsity contests in the same calendar
year, unless exceptional circumstances exist (such as a hurricane) that
limit a full year to less than eight (8) varsity contests, in which case
the Board of Directors may authorize less than eight (8) varsity contests
as a full year.
b. Members without a
full year of prior varsity officiating experience will not be considered
for playoff crew assignment.
c. Members who will be
unavailable for assignment during each of the first two weeks of playoff
games will not be considered for playoff crew assignment.
d. Members who have at
least two full prior seasons experience on a varsity crew who have changed
to a different on-field position from that worked during the immediately
previous season, or who change position during the current season will NOT
be disqualified from consideration.
e. Members who have
transferred from other FHSAA-sanctioned associations and are on a varsity
crew in their first season of membership in BFOA may be considered for
playoff crew assignment at the discretion of the Committee.
f. Members who have
transferred from associations outside the State of Florida are not
eligible for playoff crew assignment during their first year of membership
in BFOA.
Section 4.
Members eligible under Section 3 shall be considered for 5-man or 7-man
playoff crews only at the on-field position that they will work during at
least 50% of their game assignments during the current year, except that
any member eligible under Section 3 may be considered as a timer in a
5-man or 7-man playoff crew or as a side judge or field judge in a 7-man
playoff crew. However, a member who is working as a varsity referee
during his/her first two seasons at that position, may request
Recommendations Committee consideration for playoff crew assignment at
his/her former on-field position.
Section 5.
Timers for playoff crews must meet eligibility requirements as stated in
Section 3, and be capable of working on the field should that become
necessary during a playoff assignment.
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