Our principal does not control our funds and cannot use them without PTO approval. She is a member of our PTO, but has no more control of our funds than any other member, and is required to come to us with a request like any other school group or individual that might need/want funds. Of course, we have never denied her either, if we have funds available....
Mighty Jo - no, it's not in our By-Laws either that the Principal specifically be able to sign on the account. (But it is in the By-Laws that he be a Board Member.)
While it makes sense for us, I have to admit my own views would vary depending on the type of person the principal was and, more importantly, his/her relationship with the PTO. Our Principal has been at the school for 15-20 years and is an integral part of the PTO. In all the right ways, he sees it as a completely separate organization and never tries to control funding or program decisions. But,then the PTO also works seamlessly with the school on some things where there's not a clear line that "THIS is the school's and THIS is the PTO's". We have our frictions like any group, but overall our relationship with the Principal, the teachers, and the school is excellent. That makes decisions like this much easier. All that being said, it's still imperative safeguards be established and followed. No matter how great our Principal, WE control the checkbook.
Hi Steve,
I couldn't resist to throw in my school's policy on this because in the past no one can believe we do this! Per our school District which is in the charter of our school the only person that signs our checks is Accounts Payable person at school. Any reinbursment/bill/etc. must have the proper form filled out and approved by the President and Treasurer and the school writes the check.
Please understand I don't know why the District has this policy and hope it's not because of miss handleing of funds at another school but it works and honestly I really like the thought I am not keeping track of another checkbook.
Like Jo said we have many different ways for handleing our money issues and I can tell you MANY people HATE the way my PTO does it but honestly besides the fact my hands are tied as this is a district policy, I kinda like it!
Steve,
I assume you've realized from all these posts that there is no blanket rule about this. Since each PTO is independent, it is up to your group to decide. If you look thru previous posts, you'll see various pros and cons for each method.
The principal is not an authorized signer on our account.
I'm curious, do any of you have this specified in your bylaws? We do not.
Our principal is not considered a member of our PTO and therefore does not have authority to sign checks. The co-presidents and the treasurer are the only ones with check signing authority. If your principal is considered a member of your PTO than there should be no problem in letting him/her have check signing authority.
Our President, Vice President (only 1 if there are multiple), and Treasurer are on the signature card. Two signatures are required per check. Although our Principal is a board member, we have never had her on the signature card.
