We don't, and never had to my knowledge our Principal authorized to sign PTO checks. Our Principal is a Board Member, but only the President and Treasurer are allowed to sign checks from PTO (we've had past trouble...).
We have the same philosophy, but there was a similar post awhile back and some organizations are strongly opposed to having the Principal on the account. In our case, like those above, the Principal is an authorized signer, and frequently provides the second signature. It's a matter of convenience and consistency. (And the Principal is a Board Member.) However, we (i.e., the treasurer) control the account and physically keeps the checkbook.
The principal doesn't initiate any checks except in very rare circumstances when we have asked him to. (i.e., he filled in once when the treasurer was on vacation, and we knew we had something arriving at school that needed a check. And last year we had some limbo period when we elected new officers and there was a delay getting the new names on the account.)
Our PTO has the principal on our signature card as well as President and Treasurer. We also require two signatures to sign each check. We have found that many times he is easiest to track down when a signature is needed.
We do have the principal on our signature card but only use him as a last resort.
we still require 2 signatures though, we do this because he is more or less a constant throughout the year and can be helpful in a tight spot
We do have the principal on our signature card but only use him as a last resort.
we still require 2 signatures though, we do this because he is more or less a constant throughout the year and can be helpful in a tight spot