BlackEagle603

Update - The DE has decided (read shamed or coerced) to drive 180 miles one way next Wednesday to plead the Council's case with the Unit parents. As far as I can tell, this is the very first time a DE has darkened the door in this town. Also, did some more digging, found this jewel from the Council's web-site: ~ The Partnership for Scouting asks every unit to support the Council with $145 per youth member. This contribution may be realized through Friends of Scouting, popcorn sales, other unit fundraisers, or a combination of all three methods. The Partnership for Scouting recognizes that different units prefer different methods of fundraising. Thus, consistent with council policy, each unit is free to decide how to raise money within their own unit. Units should select whatever fundraising activities are best suited to their abilities and resources. Within a unit, at the unit leadership’s discretion, individual members can also select between these funding paths depending upon their circumstances. ~ Apparently, this Council is also considering making the "suggested" contribution mandatory or they will not charter or recharter a Unit. Even more surprising, some Council's already do something similar. Baden-Powell must be spinning in his grave.

A local Troop I am involved with has been getting a lot of pressure from the Council to donate to the Council, mostly because the Council is in deep debt. To the tune of millions of dollars. The Troop is a small unit, 4 - 8 boys, and frankly, doesn't have any funds to donate. The Council is demanding $50 per boy for FOS, as well as at least $1,000 minimum from the Troop as a whole. My question is, can the Council actually bill individual units because of their financial screw-ups? Also, not one professional Scout has bothered to drive the 3 hours one-way to come visit the Troop or Chartered Organization. The unit is on the verge of disbanding due to this. Any suggestions would be most welcome.

Our Troop has decided to put on it's own summer camp, instead of attending a "regular" camp. 1. Has anyone else done the same thing & 2. any suggestions? Thanks!! Tim

Let me clarify. Parent A comes to pick up Scout A. She gets into a tussel with boy C. Leader B catches the tail end of the wrestling match (was in good fun), physically removes parent A from boy C. Parent A leaves, then contacts police later with questions about whether that was legal or not. Leader B and husband (also a leader) gets extremely, demands that parent A and Scout A leave the troop or they will. Scout A had nothing to do with wrestling match. Parent A realizes that she over reacted, expressed apology to me and SM. Leader B and husband will not accept any apology. Leader B and parent A do not have any history, Scout A has only been with troop about 2 months, with no problems at all, in fact, is a model Scout. Parent A has even said that she is willing to stay away from any function as long as Scout A can remain in the troop. Yes, we are calling a meeting of all the other leaders to discuss this, tomorrow night, in fact. Just wanted a some outside input. Also, Leader B is our Committee Chair, husband B is an ASM. Also, they will probably leave the unit in less than a year, Scout B (their son) is finishing up his Eagle. To answer why parent B was removed from boy C, apparently Leader B didn't know it was in fun, and that parent B and boy C were family friends and this happens a lot. The SM and I have looked at a lot of options: We do have another unit in town, not sure how active, otherwise, it's 40 - 50 miles to the next unit. Starting a new unit until Leader(s) B leave troop, meeting as a separate patrol on a different night, or just letting the leaders leave early. Hope this helps. Also, thank you for all the input, and if any of you are on other Scout forums, I am posting the same question there.

Here is a situation that just came up in our Troop. Any suggestions on how to address it would be great! When the Troop got back from an outing, a parent and one of our Leaders had a physical altercation, ie: the Leader pulled the parent off of another boy, they were wrestling. The parent got upset, picked up her Scout, who was not involved, and went home. She then contacted the police, who contacted the leader at home. Both the leader and her husband are leaders in our Troop. Now, the two leaders have told the SM that if the Scout (again, was not involved) comes back to a meeting, they will resign. They are basically concerned that the parent could cause problems in the future. The Scout has not been a problem in any way, and during discussions with the parent and the husband, believe that there was a misunderstanding. The two leaders will not budge. Also, for clarification, the wrestlers were the parent and another boy. The families are good friends, regardless, it shouldn't have gone on at what was left of the Troop function. That much is acknowledged. The leader saw most of what happened, apparently became concerned for the boy (YPT), and pulled the parent off of the boy. Thanks!!