Eagle1993

And then you join and realize 90% of BSA activities are meetings and merit badge clinics where you have to write reports while adult leaders argue if googling information for your report was sufficient or if you should have used an Encyclopedia written in 1982.

Baby Steps of America.... I expect we were headed to coed all along.

Name changes and minor program tweaks won't make a significant impact. I'm seeing a complete collapse of scouting in my area. Multiple Packs ending, others seeing limited growth. Multiple Troops in my area are also near collapse. Summer camps, camporees are losing attendees. The answer from National... A name change? I think the change is fine, but hopefully I hear about their plans to reverse the decline.

From Facebook An announcement was made today during the BSA National Annual Meeting regarding Scouts BSA. The BSA has received feedback through member surveys, councils, and other sources that have encouraged a third option be made available to serve youth and their families interested in Scouting. This option would be a “combined troop” option to help serve all youth and families that wish to participate in Scouting guided by the Scout Oath and Law. The National Executive Committee (NEC) has authorized the Scouts BSA Committee to conduct a limited pilot from September 1, 2024, through July 2025. The Scouts BSA Committee will collect feedback from participants and make a recommendation based on the data on the program to the NEC in 2025. More information will be forthcoming. Thank you for your service to Scouting and for providing every young person and their family with the opportunity to participate in Scouting’s life changing programs.

Scouts SA already exists (Australia)... I wonder what the plan is...

@BinTharDunThat Welcome to Scouter.com. 1) I would expect they likely met with GSUSA before this announcement and hopefully came to some agreement. 2) Ugh So Boy Scouts went to Scouts BSA and now Scouts SA?

Are there council mergers being announced?

The school board found a way to get kids to read books ... announce that they are banned. I would think BSA would be fine accepting controversial Eagle Scout projects. One of our youth did a project for an organization that provides housing for primarily LGBTQ youth who were abused at home. That said, there was a clear benefactor and and the project wasn't directed against any political group. So, I could see a way for a project like this could work in the BSA, but not in the manner it was conducted as a Gold project.

I would lead with: 1) Is the PLC running the Troop well? 2) Are new scouts <2 years integrating well into the activities and patrols. 3) Are AOL scouts attending any meetings and outings and has that gone well? I think the other items are fine, but some should also come from committee members themselves (advancement chair, etc.).

Looks like Blackberry (RIM) stock price. I expect BSA numbers will be similar. I still believe in scouting but a lot has to change for it to grow again and I don't think those changes will happen.

Coed camping already occurs with venturing and Packs. So, we are really only talking about adding coed camping for 11, 12 and 13 yo. In addition, coed camping exists in those ages as linked Troops share camping sites all the time, including at BSA events. Clarification... When I say coed, I mean boys and girls camping at same site. Now, if you mean in the same tent, I agree that won't happen for a long time.

Perhaps it is just my highschool, but as a parent of a teenager I have to say expectations of what teens must do far exceed what was expected of teens 20, 30, 50 years ago. First, they are expected to take college level courses in high school. When I was a kid, I took 2 AP courses, now ... If you want any chance to get selected by a highly selected university you need at least 8. Plus you need to have nearly perfect grades and an ACT/SAT that is very high. Then look at sports. When I was a kid you can simply walk on to most teams and the sport lasts the season. Now, the best teams are not even at high school and nearly all teams except you dedicate yourself to that sport all year (and expect to travel). Add in the expectation you also have a job, volunteer, become president of a couple of clubs, etc. Free time for far too many kids is rare. They are jumping around from studying for an AP test to travel baseball to mock trials, etc. Participation trophies are a thing in the past. My kids participated in years of various sports, never received a trophy and were told they were no good for travel and should simply quit. As a parent of a couple of kids today I think the lazy argument is that kids today are babied. Actually, in many ways, I think kids today are abused. Expectations are far too high and many sacrifice childhood to become mini adults at age 9. The kids that don't are left feeling like they are failures. It's incredibly sad. Scouting is the one organization where you are not judged if you are not the "best" at something and you don't leave feeling like you failed life just because you didn't ace an AP test while also throwing a baseball in the mid 90s at 16. I honestly think that is why we need scouting more than ever. It allows kids to try a variety of activities, fail, learn , have fun and just be kids. Everything else is rushing them into adulthood.

I just completed a scouting survey. It included standard questions and asked for recommendations. It has additional questions for Scoutmasters that dug into collecting feedback about how girls troops are run (are they really independent or integrated and if integrated how integrated are they). It then had questions about recommendations if BSA should consider coed Troops and if they were coed, how integrated should the integrated Troops be managed. Hopefully this is really a survey to get input before decisions but I know that is not always the case. However, I can say that BSA must be at least considering changing how girls are integrated. FWIW, I recommended allowing coed Troops but keeping girls patrols. I felt like that would open up scouting to more girls but still allow some space for coharts to bond.

I will say for my company, DEI has gone well (overall). There are a few times where I think it went sideways, but overall we have greater pools of talent for hiring, our profits have increased substantial over the last few years and year end bonuses are the highest they have ever been. Personally, I have been happy with my career progression. When I hire, I have never been pressured to hire an under or unqualified candidate. If someone quits because they are against diversity, inclusion or equity... So be it. I haven't seen many people quit my company and definitely no one with talent that is not easily replaced.

I know probably the best employee at our local council is gay. He was promoted and I didn't know he was gay until after he left. The council is worse off after he left. If DEI helps us get employees from more walks of life and expands the pool of talent, I don't see it as a negative. If it is used to push out people than I have an issue with it. I think how an organization handles DEI is really what is important. I'm not an employee of BSA so I'm not sure how they are using it.

What is the hidden message? I do think there are more girls and gay scouts than there were in the past (so in part it is working). I'm not sure about other groups.

To expand scouting beyond those who typically participated?

My district dropped 9% from end 2022 to end 2023, we only post 2.5% end 2021 to end 2022. In the past 2 years we lost 16% of our Troops and more are near the end. Packs and crews are roughly steady.

The consequences of a massive shrinking BSA. In addition, the practice of changing volunteers who staff is not a great practice. One of the ASMs in my troop had a lead role in past Jambos. He spent over $5000 out of own pocket to volunteer (flights to Dallas, food, etc.) along with hundreds of hours just in prep. He couldn't justify keeping up that level of commitment. That said, several of my Eagle scouts said Jambo (not last year's) was by far the best experience you can get in scouting. These are youth that also went to Philmont and. BWCA. Why? They both explained that anyone can go on a high adventure trip, but the experience of Jambo is unique and is not duplicated. I've never been, but based on feedback from others who attended in better years, I hope they can return it back to the event it once was.

Roger Krone is showing far more engagement in a few months than Mosby did in years. No complaints so far! That said, BSA is in a crisis. Hopefully he takes aggressive action to course correct.

That really should be it in terms of appeals. I can't imagine this bankruptcy being undone if the Supreme Court punted now.

I think we are at the point of agree to disagree and time to move on. Let's get back to the initial focus of this topic. @RememberSchiff

Hope it doesn't come to this, but you have the option to file for an extension. No guarantees, but you may have a valid argument. GTA-11.2.0.0-form-2021 (1).pdf

If the worst case happens and the supreme Court rules non debtor/non consensual releases cannot be included in the plan AND BSA plan is not too far along, then my guess is BSA gives up including COs and Councils and could provide a much lower fund. The insurance would be a bit of a mess, but their contribution would be much less. If the plan continues to be rejected, you may see National liquidate. The individual lawsuits and bankruptcy of COs and Councils would follow over the next decade. Donors would flee as their funds could just be waiting for bankruptcy filings. I do expect any contributions made to the trust would be refunded and perhaps clawbacks of payments made to individuals. In short... financial disaster for the BSA. Some claimants may see more money but I expect the vast majority would see less and it would drag out. Hopefully it doesn't come to this.

Seems like some bankruptcy professors and reporters were surprised. In addition "Unlike prior such orders, Alito *didn’t* set a deadline."