ScoutNut

As others have said, the CUB LEVEL a boy is in is determined by his age, and/or, grade. All Cub Scout activity (including rank AWARD requirements) is AGE appropriate. If a Cub is held back, or advanced, a grade in school, it is up to his parents, and den leaders, to come to a decision on what is best for the boy in Cub Scouts. A lot depends on the Scout's maturity. BSA recommends keeping the Scout with his current, age consistent, den mates. However, the final decision is up to the parents.

Cub Scouts - Boy Scouts - Two different programs.

I could not find any "Webelos Fact Sheets". However, what I did find was the Webelos Handbook. In the front of the Webelos Handbook is the "Webelos Scout Parent Guide". On pages 10-11 (in 2008 printing) is the section titled - "The Webelos Experience" which includes a bullet pointed list of the ways the Webelos program is different from the other Cub programs. This includes information on who signs off on a Webelos work.

Sorry - Not possible. Your BSA Council has no say in how a den is run financially. They can NOT dictate what can, or can not, be charged in dues at the Pack, or den, levels. BSA units (Pack/Troop/Team/Crew/Ship) are OWNED by their Chartering Organizations (CO). The CO agrees to use the BSA program, but their financials are their own. Bottom line - how would a council ever know what a Pack is charging for it's dues, much less a den? Just silly.

We do a Halloween Foodraiser, collect at Thanksgiving, and participate in the Council Scouting for Food in May.

I never understood the big "controversy". It is simple - Cubs can not earn awards for past, or future, levels. They earn the pin for the level they are IN. A boy who graduates from kindergarten, and joins a Pack that June is a Tiger Cub Scout. If his Pack earns the Pack Summertime Award Streamer, and he attends a Pack activity in June, July, and August, he would earn his Tiger Summertime Award pin. That Tiger Scout becomes a Wolf Cub Scout on the following June 1. He would then be eligible to earn his Wolf Summertime Award pin for activities attended that summer, as a Wolf Cub Scout. The next summer, when he is a Bear, he can earn his Bear Summertime pin. After graduating from 3rd grade, he becomes a Webelos Cub, and is eligible to earn his Webelos pin that summer. As Webelos is the ONLY level that encompasses 2 summers (after 3rd grade, and after 4th grade), a Webelos is eligible to earn 2 Webelos Summertime Award pins.

You have control over membership in your unit only. Your council has control over the boy's membership in BSA. Report the physical violence (as per youth protection rules), and other actions, to your Council SE. It is up to them to take it from there.

What is your Charter Organization (CO)? Who is the head of that CO (Charter Organization)? Are they at all involved/interested in the operation of their Pack? I suggest you talk to the head (IH-Institutional Head) of your CO. Tell him/her what is going on, and invite him to the meeting. If you can get the IH on your side, the IH trumps the COR/CC. I will be REALLY surprised if your DE shows up. They might, possibly, send your District Commissioner instead. Either way, if your CO/IH wants you gone there is nothing you, or the DE, or the parents, can do about it. Note - There MUST be a registered Cubmaster to have a valid Cub Scout Pack. That CM can NOT also be the registered COR, or the registered CC. So, your COR/CC can NOT be the one, single, do it all, "master/commander". Personally, I would move to the other Pack. I am sure they can find something for you to do. Or, you might consider talking to your DE about volunteering in the District Commissioner Service. It sounds like your area could use some experienced Unit Commissioners!

No Pack sign-in for Pack meetings. Keeping track of who attends is up to the den leader. The den leader then includes that on their award list for the next month. We award segment patches to the Scouts for attending the Pack meeting that are in the theme of the meeting.

So, I take it that if you were a merit badge counselor you would have no problem with putting your email address out there for the ENTIRE WORLD to see, and send junk mail and/or porn to? Merit badge counselors CAN be contacted. It is up to the District/Council Advancement Committee to keep a list of current counselors. Some will publish it openly on their District/Council website. Some have a "locked" space on the website that only folks with the correct code can access. Some only have hard copies that can only be gotten from the Council offices by the unit leader (Scoutmaster). I suggest you contact the Advancement Chair for your District (or Council of the DAC does not help) and ask for names of counselors for the incorrectly completed summer camp merit badges. I would explain the reason behind your request as well. Better yet, because they might be leery about giving that information to a parent (not knowing if the parent is trying to pull something shady or not), and because it really is not the parents who should be looking for, and contacting counselors, have your SON, the Scout, contact his District Advancement Chair with the request, and explanation. Just a note - Nowhere, in any merit badge, is there a requirement that the Scout MEMORIZE the material in the merit badge so that he can spit it out verbatim a year later. That is not how it works. BSA requires the Scout to complete the merit badge requirements - AS WRITTEN. NO MORE - NO LESS.

How do the taxes on these grants work? Since your unit is owned by your CO, are the grants in your CO's name?

Even if you go with the green numbers on the Webelos shirt, you may still end up having to change them if the Webelos does not go to the Troop owned by the Pack's CO, or if the CO has two different unit numbers.

For the Webelos requirements there is no -earn the pin INSTEAD of the loop. What is being said is to re-earn the loop (which ever loop), but for more interest, and because they are now 4-5th grade, to encourage/help them to go a bit further, and also earn the pin. For some loops (like baseball) it might be easier to accomplish both the loop, and pin. For others, not so much. It is all up to the boy how much time/effort they are willing to put in. Most will simply stop at re-earning the loop.

First you do realize that B-P explicitly stated several times scouting is not the Military, right? Second, all for seeing someone develop a new award. But if your going to call out an organizations uniform standard as not high enough and then intend to implement "shoulder cords" in contradiction to those very standards I think your a hypocrite. I also need to observe that this program is about Knot tying, a skill so basic to scouting that not being able to tie them means one does not advance in rank and you think people should be given uniform decorations for that? Third, If you like fancy uniforms, and the idea of the Knot Ninja program, take a look at the Sea Scout program. It is challenging, more structured than Boy Scouts and it has a variety of Uniforms. First of all, it is not up to YOU to "provide opportunities" to the Scouts in the unit. It is up to the PLC, the Scoutmaster, and the Committee. The Scoutmaster is in charge of the program side of things, and working with the youth members. The Committee is in supposed to help on the business end to make the program possible. If you feel there is a lack in your unit's program, talk to your SPL, and your Scoutmaster. Second, knot tying is not the ONLY skill that a Scout should be learning. It rather defeats the purpose of the program to concentrate on only that one skill. Last, for a (supposed) youth leader in a BSA Scout Troop to state that living by the Scout Oath, and the Scout Law, is not important, is very troubling to me. Since you do not seem to particularly like the current BSA program, stating it has "decayed" over the 100+ years of it's existence, I have to ask again, why are you a member? You stated that you would prefer if BSA were, in fact, a military organization. Why not join JROTC, Civil Air Patrol Cadets, Naval Sea Cadets, or Young Marines? Any of these programs would seem to be a better fit for you than BSA.

NeverAnEagle - Again, that is a Charter Organization (CO) releasing their charter, on a BSA unit, including the unit number. The CO OWNS the unit.. If the unit folks want to split from the CO, that is their choice, and can be done. However - if the Co decides that it still wants that BSA unit (just without the dissident members) the CO can hold onto all unit funds, unit equipment, and the unit number, for use by IT'S unit. The CO holds the charter (permission from BSA National to have a BSA unit) - NOT the people, in the unit (including unit leaders or Committee members). At that point, the folks leaving the CO's unit would have to go CO shopping to create a brand new unit from scratch, or go to another, already established, unit.

My goodness. Your Troop seems to be lax on teaching the Scout Oath and Law also. Perhaps you should have them implement a new award where they stop you once a month, and have you prove you know what they are, what they mean, and that you actually do try to live by them. Unfortunately, from your comments here, you seem to be sorely lacking in the Courteous part, along with a few others. Young man, being on an internet board, and feeling that you are "immune" to consequences, does NOT excuse the above behavior. Especially on a Scout forum, from someone claiming to be an under 18, Boy Scout, and a leader in his Troop. BTW - I HAVE read both - the Charter and Bylaws of the Boy Scouts of America (pub 57-191), and the Rules and Regulations of the Boy Scouts of America (pub 57-492).

If a Scout is wearing a rank patch, you SHOULD EXPECT that he has completed all of the requirements to actually EARN that rank. If the Scouts in your unit are not earning their ranks, then yes, that is very sad. However creating more awards (that very possibly will also not be properly earned) is not the solution.

Since it seems that you mean that you do not take Scouting, or at least BSA uniform standards, seriously at all, I have to wonder why you are a member of the organization.

Actually, if he is motivated, he can earn BOTH his Webelos badge, and his AOL, in a minimum of 6 months (not nine). That would put him finished in March, 2014. If he turns 11 before then, all the better. He can join Boy Scouts when he turns 11 without having earned AOL..

You state that parents will/can not attend Committee meetings because they have kids at home. Are all of your families single parent households? If not, one parent can stay home with the kids, and one can attend the meeting. When are your Committee meetings? Perhaps changing the time/place will make them more convenient for at least one parent per household to attend. Gotta say though, if you can't recruit some new Cubs, with parents that are committed to help the Pack "go", you are simply wasting your time beating a dead horse. I highly recommend telling folks that flat out at this Sunday's meeting.

I never used Scout Track. The management program I used in our Pack was ScoutManage, so I have no idea what Scout Track calculates or how. However, I assume that there should be some kind of lock out process so that parents can not go in and back date stuff. You should also be able to access some kind of report that shows what was awarded, when. Look on the 'Net for a Scout Track support forum. You need to have a discussion with your committee, and Cubmaster. You need to nail down the particulars for your specific Pack. Such as, what awards are in the Pack budget, what awards you should be tracking (inputting into management program), and purchasing, and what is being awarded when, and how, Service pins and attendance bars are optional. Are they included in your Pack's budget? We never did attendance bars at all. We did do Service pins. They were purchased by the Awards/Advancement Chair (me), and awarded at our end of May Pack meeting. Pre-management software, we would discuss service pin years at our Pack Leader Meetings, and have the Cubmaster dig out old Pack Scout rosters to look up a Scout if there was a question of what year he started. Then we would try to make notes so we could remember for next year because those @#X$ pins never stay on, and get lost super easily, so you could not just look at what was on the Scout's shirts! After I brought in the management program, we at least had the list of who got what at the end of last year to go by. We awarded all Totems, Progress Toward Rank beads, Webelos Colors, Webelos Compass, and Elective stuff (beads/arrows/points) at our monthly Pack meetings. Our dens were not responsible for purchasing any den awards. Our Webelos usually crossed to Boy Scouts at our February Blue and Gold banquet. Typically we would do regular award presentation ceremonies for all regular awards earned during the last month. A separate Arrow of Light presentation ceremony for all Webelos earning the AOL, and a separate Crossover to Boy Scouts ceremony for those Webelos moving on to a Boy Scout Troop. The Boy Scouts in our CO's Troop would plan, and put together, the AOL, and Crossover, ceremonies. The Pack also purchased all 5th grade Webelos a nice compass, and the Scouts crossing over to a Troop their new shoulder loops, and Boy Scout Handbook. Rank advancement, or "Graduation", happens at the end of the school year. We did our Graduation ceremony at our end of May Pack meeting. We awarded all Scouts their new necker, a necker slide (homemade-Pack/den specific), and handbook. The rising 5th grade Webelos were awarded an arrow necker slide, and a Vittle Kit (camping cutlery). We always discussed at our monthly Pack Leaders meetings what things where due to be awarded at our next Pack meeting (or two). Den leaders were required to get a list of what they needed to the Advancement/Award Chair at least one week before the Pack meeting. With our Pack management program, den leaders can either go online and fill out what their Scouts have completed/need (prefered), or send a list via e-mail. I like Scout Manage because we can create our own awards and so include for the den leaders everything we might need to purchase for that month. We also get purchase, and award, histories, by Scout, that you can generate reports on. As Award/Advancement Chair I was responsible for keeping track of, purchasing, and sorting by den/Scout, everything we presented to our Pack's Scouts, and leaders, except the red "brag" vest. Our CM's wife made those, so she was responsible for purchasing the necessary material. Generally I was also responsible for purchasing/making what ever theme containers we were using to distribute awards that month (balloons, holiday cards, plastic eggs, etc). I was also in charge of purchasing the whipped topping, and rocket kits for the Pack popcorn sales prizes (although that was more under my hat of Popcorn Kernel, not Award Chair!). Hope this all helps a bit. As I said above, you need to work with your Pack's leaders to coordinate things.

As long as it is promoted, and organized, by the Pack, of course it would count.

You said you are the new Cubmaster, did they also get a new Committee Chair? The Committee Chair should be the one filling Committee Member positions.

Actually the list of Cubmaster responsibilities at KDD's link is - exactly - the same as the list in the 2010 Cub Scouts Leader Book. The "norm" in most Packs is for the Cubmaster to work with Scouts and program and the Committee to work with administration. The "norm" is also that folks do what they have to do when/if there are not enough volunteers to go around. Wearing multiple hats is usually the "norm" in many Packs, but that does not make the additional duties official Cubmaster responsibilities. As I said above, a unit (any unit) works better when all of it's leaders work together as a team. Adult infighting is the major cause of units folding.

Where does BSA state one of the Cubmaster's jobs is to "monitor" the den programs? In BSA's list of Cubmaster responsibilities (see KDD's link above), it states - - Plan and help carry out the Cub Scout program in the pack according to the policies of the BSA. This includes leading the monthly pack meeting, with the help of other leaders. - Work with the pack committee on program ideas - Guide and support den leaders It should not be necessary for a CM to "monitor" any den unless requested to do so by the den leaders, or because of some kind of major problem within a specific den. Tracking Scout participation at Pack, and/or den activities, should be the responsibility of the individual den leader, not the CM. Typically, the den leaders report all of their Scouts activity monthly to the Advancement Chair. When you state "working with the Advancement chair to be certain Scouts are getting their recognition" I am not sure what - exactly - you are referring to. Are you planning on monitoring the Advancement Chair to be sure that all reported advancements are purchased for the month? If so that is not the responsibility of the CM. The Advancement Chair is a Committee Member, and as such, they are part of the Committee Chair's responsibility. Do you mean that this is part of your "monitoring" of the den's programs? Do you plan on telling your den leaders who they need to give advancement to, and when? If so that is the den leaders responsibility, not the Cubmasters. A Committee Chair is not really "in charge" of a Pack. Per BSA, the Committee Chair is in charge of the Pack Committee, and is responsible for "the administration, oversight, and support of the pack program". The Cubmaster works with the Pack program itself, and the Scouts. The Committee Chair, Cubmaster, Committee, and other leaders, all work TOGETHER as a TEAM.