Algonquin

dedkad, the troop was not created by these individuals. For whatever reason, the CO was changed in 2008. fred johnson, thank you very much for this sage advice. After all, the worst thing that can happen is that the CC fires me for doing the right thing. Then I will know that is is definitely time to move (with my two sons) to another troop or start a new one.

Thanks very much for many great suggestions. I'll give the CC a chance to resign (She has said she wants to, but....) and move the troop to a different CO. Short of that, I can't accept the liability of the current situation. Hueymungus, yes, the COR is basically "Two Parents of a Kid who used to be in the Troop". jpstodwftexas, I want my Eagle Scouts who are staying with the troop to be able to sign off on basic rank requirements through First Class, not SM reviews or BORs. I know in many established troops it is quite common for the boys in leadership positions to sign off on other boy's rank requirements. I'd actually like to push this down to Star rank signing off since they would then be more engaged and need to stay current with skills. I know different troops have different ideas, but we've been a troop for over 35 years so it seems that something is wrong if we don't trust (and can't monitor and guide) the boys so they can sign off on junior Scouts rank requirements. And yes, more training is something I definitely need. Heading to Wood Badge soon.

Thanks. I just discovered that the head of the CO can be the CC, so it's a no-win battle. I believe that most of the adult leaders would head to a new troop. Many of the drop-off parents are unaware of what is happening, but since our last SM resigned recently they would certainly start hearing some alarm bells. The straw that broke the last SM's back was when the CC would not let him allow an Eagle Scout to sign off on boy's requirements. She said it wasn't troop policy. While the prior SM and I strongly support boy-led, the CC is so committed to boy-led that adult guidance is virtually nil (think Lord of the Flies). ASMs do little more than sign books, so they get bored and start disengaging. I'd like to assign them as patrol advisers (coaches/sounding boards) but have been told by the CC that this is not troop policy. I get the fact that the ASMs would need to advise and not direct, and lines can blur, but I see it as my job to work with the SPL and ASMs to ensure that we remain boy led with an appropriate sprinkling of adult guidance. Sorry, I'm starting to whine. The frosty beverage sounds really good right now. I think your advice is the path I will likely take. Thanks.

This is a tough situation. The chartered organization for our Boy Scout troop is a 501-C3 (not-for-profit) organization that was started by our committee chair and her husband who is one of our assistant scoutmasters. Both are the only two members of the chartered organization. Together they are creating a lot of troop "policies" that override BSA policies. Additionally it seems that they did not keep up with their 501-C3 registration so the organization no longer really exists in the eyes of the state. We are beginning to lose members who are fed up with what seems to be a situation in which the chairman issues policies based on personal preferences rather than committee vote. Finances in the troop are also out of control, and she has run off parents and most recently a very good scoutmaster. I know the advice might be to run away as fast as possible, but I just became the new scoutmaster (learning the ropes) so I'd prefer to find a way to clean up this mess for the sake of the Scouts. Running to a new troop is the easy way out and doesn't solve the problem for those left behind. My thought is to sit down with the committee chair and ask her to resign and transfer troop ownership to a new chartered organization. I suppose she could fire me from my new role, but this really needs to stop. From what I described, does it sound like she is acting in violation of BSA policy? Can the head of a chartered organization appoint herself as committee chair? We can't complain to the chartered organization, because she and her husband are the chartered organization!! Thanks for any advice you can provide!