click23

Flying Plan Updated to Allow Flights in Tethered Balloons http://scout-wire.org/2012/03/14/flying-plan-updated-to-allow-flights-in-tethered-balloons/ The BSA unauthorized activities were recently updated along with the flying plan to allow Scouts to experience flight in a tethered balloon. The flying plan can be found on the forms page of Scouting Safely, and links are included to the PDF of the flight plan and the FAQ for tethering.

On most of your questions I am really not sure. But this, http://pushies.com/documents/28-105_PMSML.pdf, is the document they follow(it is the 2008 revision so it might not be exactly the most current info) There are three categories of offences, Category I Offenses - applicant will be disqualified from membership in the Boy Scouts of America regardless of any other factor. Category II Offenses - applicant may be accepted as a member in the BSA at the request of the applicant, upon the recommendation of the chartered organization, and with the concurrence of the Scout executive (or designee), based upon an evaluation a list of criteria Category III Offenses - the Scout executive (or designee) may determine that it is advisable to discuss the offenses with the chartered organization, agree on the processing of the application, and receive verbal or written approval to accept the application.

Have you looked at the troop program features? http://goo.gl/PJbiV Your PLC picks an activity they want to do, it gives you plans(about 75% complete) leading up to the event. There are several references to the Troop Program Resource book, which can be found here, http://goo.gl/Ej2Ir

I have never been asked to do one as a commissioner. I figure once I help the unit solve all of its problems then I can think about asking to do a uniform inspection, until then I have other things that I can be doing.

E92, take a look at my post on the first page. The guide to advancement states that if a parent insists on attending they must be allowed.

From the guide to advancement, reasons that a boy might be a Lone scout 5.0.3.0 Lone Scouting - Boys who do not have access to traditional Scouting units can become Lone Cub Scouts and Lone Boy Scouts. In the following or similar circumstances, they may fi nd this an appropriate option: 1. Home-schooled where parents do not want them in a youth group 2. U.S. citizens living abroad 3. Exchange students away from the United States 4. Disability or communicable illness that prevents meeting attendance 5. Rural communities far from a unit 6. Conflicts with a job, night school, or boarding school 7. Families who frequently travel or live on a boat, etc. 8. Living arrangements with parents in different communities 9. Environments where getting to meetings may put the Scout in danger Take a look at the entire Lone Scout section of the G2A, 5.0.3.0 - 5.0.3.3 http://scouting.org/filestore/pdf/33088.pdf As far as the mother being the unit representative at the EBOR, this is not appropriate even in this situation. 8.0.1.0 Conducting the Board of Review - ... The Scouts parents, relatives, or guardians may not be in attendance in any capacitynot as members of the board, as observers, or even as the unit leader. Their presence can change discussion dynamics. In the box below the above section, it states "In cases where parents or guardians insist on attending a board of review (or in Sea Scouts, a bridge of review), they should be counseled on why this is not permitted. Their presence can change how their son addresses questions, and the opportunity to further self-reliance and courage may be lessened. However, if parents or guardians insist on being present, they must be permitted to attend." I would suggest someone else, of her choosing, to serve in place of her as the unit leader. Even though not appropriate, if she insists on attending she must be permitted to do so. I would also have a sit down with the mother and let her read the following sections in the G2A 9.0.2.3 Plan, Develop " 9.0.2.4 Give Leadership to Others 9.0.2.13 Evaluating the Project After Completion Make it clear to her that it is his project, and he must "plan, develop, and give leadership to others" in his project. And if the board determines that she planned, developed and gave the leadership to the project, even though it was approved by the beneficiary, the board can reject the project as not being completed per the written requirements.(This message has been edited by click23)

When do your units have there crossover ceremonies? Most here participate in our distrcits cross over ceremony which is in April, however some unit in other districts do theirs in March or February. This is from the Webelos leaders manual "The packs annual blue and gold banquet in February should be a target date for Webelos Scouts to transition into Boy Scouting."

Here is the definition according to the Guide to Advancement, http://scouting.org/filestore/pdf/33088.pdf 9.0.2.11 Routine Labor - Routine labor is not normally considered appropriate for a project. This might be defined as a job or service that a Scout may provide as part of his daily life, or a routine maintenance job normally done by the beneficiary (for example, picking the weeds on the football field at a school). But the real test has to do with scale and impact. If routine labor is conducted on so large a scale it requires planning, development, and leadership, it may have sufficient impact

I know this is a few weeks late, but I came across a 2007 copy of the "Annual Local Council Membership Validation Procedures", it starts about half way down the page http://www.scribd.com/doc/9770296/BSA-Policies-Regarding-Criminal-Background-Check-2005 This is very close to the 2012 revision that I signed a few weeks ago.

"What is a disqualifying conviction????? or offense????? " Here is a link to the 2008 "Procedures for Maintaining Standards of Membership and Leadership" manual, http://pushies.com/documents/28-105_PMSML.pdf According to this, there are three categories of offences, Category I Offenses - applicant will be disqualified from membership in the Boy Scouts of America regardless of any other factor. Category II Offenses - applicant may be accepted as a member in the BSA at the request of the applicant, upon the recommendation of the chartered organization, and with the concurrence of the Scout executive (or designee), based upon an evaluation a list of criteria Category III Offenses - the Scout executive (or designee) may determine that it is advisable to discuss the offenses with the chartered organization, agree on the processing of the application, and receive verbal or written approval to accept the application.(This message has been edited by click23)

Looking through the Guide to Advancement on this topic, I found a few realtive bits: 8.0.0.2 Boards of Review Must Be Granted When Requirements Are Met. - A Scout cannot be denied this opportunity. When he believes he has completed all the requirements, including a Scoutmaster conference, it is up to the unit leader and committee to assure a board of review is held. Scoutmasters, for example, do not have authority to expect a boy to request one, or to defer him, or to ask him to perform beyond the requirements in order to be granted one. After this section there is a box that states "...the Scout or his parents or guardians shall not be responsible for requesting that a board take place." This makes it very clear that the scout has no place in requesting a board of review.(This message has been edited by click23)

GP1971, please be aware that the BSA has some pretty stringent rules on Cub Scouts shooting sports. Here is a link to the National Shooting Sports Manual, http://scouting.org/filestore/Outdoor%20Program/pdf/30931_WB.pdf Information on the Cub BB program starts on page 81. This is from the Guide to Safe Scouting "Archery and BB gun shooting are restricted to day camps, Cub Scout/Webelos Scout resident camps, council-managed family camping programs, or for council activities where there are properly trained supervisors and all standards for BSA shooting sports are enforced. Archery and BB gun shooting are not to be done at the pack level." As far as selecting a BB gun, there is a maximum barrel velocity of 350 feet per second requirement. (This message has been edited by click23)

To add a bit to what perdidochas said, I believe it even applies if you need a board of review for a scout and at that moment you have "fewer than three registered committee members available to serve" on the BoR, irregardless if you have 3 or 500 committee members registered, you may use other people as long as they fall under the guidelines.(This message has been edited by click23)

How does your troop schedule boards of review? - Held monthly on committee meeting nights. We will make other arrangements if needed. Do these occur at troop meetings or at separate designated times? Mostly held towards the end of the meeting or after Who handles the scheduling? After the SMC he or an ASM will inform the committee that we need to conduct a BOR. Who sits on the boards? Committee members. With the change in the Guide to Advancement, going forward other scouters or parents might be involved. How are BOR members recruited? Committee members in attendance will work it out among themselves to see who will do it. Thoughts anyone? Monthly works well for us, and if for some reason a scout cannot make it, we will usually hold one within the next week or two just for him. The new rule for board of review composition from the Guide to Advancement: "8.0.2.0 Particulars for Tenderfoot Through Life Ranks (or Palms) ..... 1. The board is made up of three to six unit committee membersno more and no less. In units with fewer than three registered committee members available to serve, it is permissible to use knowledgeable parents (not those of the candidate) or other adults (registered or not) who understand Boy Scoutings aims."(This message has been edited by click23)

If your local scout shop is out, looks like they are not restricted on scoutstuff.org http://www.scoutstuff.org/pack-trainer-knot.html

Sorry for my brain meltdown, I completely missed the point. I just did a google search on this topic and found this, https://www.nationalpike.org/content/500 "To register a person in this position using Internet Rechartering (because the position is brand new!), you must register them as an assistant unit leader and hand-write the position code on the printed roster that is signed for turn-in."

T2Eagle, position code 92 is a district posistion. The youth should register in the position in the district where there college is, or their home district(This message has been edited by click23)

This reminded me of this , http://oa-bsa.org/resources/lodge/bestpractices/RegistrationOptions.pdf It does give a bit more detail, "The college Scouter reserve exists for college students at least 17 years of age to maintain a Scouting affiliation. These individuals should be registered either as a district or council Scouter, and not on a unit roster. Both male and female Scouters may register in the college Scouter reserve. The application should indicate a college address and may be submitted through the college or home council. Applicants should use position code 92." It also states this about the Scouter Reserve, " Individuals who wish to keep an affiliation with Scouting but are not presently able to serve actively may register as a member of the Scouter reserve. These individuals must be at least 21 years old and should be registered with the district in which they reside. Applicants should use position code 91"

E92, Looks like I miss read your OP the first time I read it. Let me see if get this now, he presented his project to the eagle board before he turned 1.5-2 months before he turned 18, but since they meet monthly he lost up to 1 month waiting on them to meet. Once they met, they rejected his project because it did not have 100 hours of work? The first time I missed the point that they rejected his project before it even began. So how did he get them to sign off on the project, or has it not been approved? If it has not, I would immediately request a time extension based on G2A section 9.0.4.0: "3. The circumstance is totally beyond the control of the youth member. Injuries, unanticipated family incidents, or various mistakes or missions by adults, for example, could be legitimate causes. The Boy Scouts of America assumes anyone working on Boy Scout ranks has a Boy Scout Handbook and has read the requirements. Despite this, misinformation from unit leadership is often cited as grounds for extensions. These cases will be considered, but they should be very rare and would point to a need for basic training and assistance." And due to the issues with the eagle board I would request that the scout be able to work with another districts eagle board, or have the council advancement committee convene one.

In my district we had a situation involving a scout who's project involved building a low ropes course at his high school. All of the other Eagle requirements had been met. Everything was approved, but the school system dictated that only the local utility board could install the poles. He even had this work out with the UB, but when it came time to install them he kept getting the run around, and this went on for months. He was able to finish his project, but did get UB help until after his 18th birthday. An extension was granted by national, and the young man received his eagle. In your situation the G2A states in section 8.0.3.1 "1. An Eagle Scout board of review may occur, without special approval, within three months after the 18th birthday" So even though his EBOR was after his 18th birthday, as long as it was not 3 months past the date, then there should be no issue Since the reason he was turned down at the EBOR was invalid he should appeal their decision per the instructions listed in the G2A section 8.0.4.1 per 9.0.2.1 "No unit, district, council, or individual shall place any requirement or other arbitrary standard on the number of hours spent on a project" He should win his appeal and be awarded his eagle, as the appeal is not another EBOR , 8.0.4.1 "8. An appeal board is not another board of review. It focuses only on the issues that brought about rejection at the lower level(s). A majority is sufficient for a decision."

If you have not seen the actual guideline, http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/Marketing/Resources/SocialMedia.aspx

I was at PTC a few years back and the instructor I had was a SE. He did tell us about the new unit verification process. Once a new unit is chartered, the head of the CO is called and welcomed to scouting by someone outside of the umbrella of field service, (DEs, field directors, director of field service), and if this person asks "what troop?", the it is immediately reported to the SE. In his council the receptionist was the one to make the call. As for membership verification, I have no idea how they would do that other than maybe advancement reports. If a unit has no advancement over a years period, something is wrong.

What a wonderful problem to have, here is how I would organize the troop 1 SPL 1 first ASPL, number two youth 1 ASPL over NSPs, troop guides, and den chiefs 1 ASPL over venture patrols(if your troop uses venture patrols) 1 ASPL over instructors and LNT Trainers, and overall instruction of the troop 1 ASPL over the rest of the PORs 12 Patrols As many as the other PORs as needed My thought on NSPs, once a boy hits Second Class he moves out to another patrol I am not a fan of ad-hoc patrols because it destroys the patrol method. If it is necessary to join patrols on outings for logistical reasons, they should not lose their patrol identity. An example would be if you had to join the snakes and eagles, the snakes might cook breakfast while the snake clean up. As far as activity, if the eagles have 4 boys show up, the they compete only with 4 boys. If the hawks have 8 boys, then they compete with 8 boys. This will encorage the patrols to show up with as many boys as they can, the boys will encourage as many boys in their patrol to show up for outings as possible. On outings, I would think that your troop would have more patrol/multiple patrol outings and fewer troop outings.

It is more than just recruiting the boys, its about building a relationship between the troop and the pack. As a commissioner I tell troops that share a CO with a pack that the boys are free to go wherever they wish, but it is up to the troop to get those boys to want to join their troop. The troop needs to be involved with the pack; den chiefs, regular camp outs with the Webelos dens, helping out with den/pack meeting, joint service projects at the CO, etc. If the troop does this and has a good program it will be a natural choice for the boys coming out of the pack to join their troop.

http://scout-wire.org/2011/11/10/atv-pwc-become-authorized-council-level-programs/ "Following the successful piloting of all-terrain vehicles (ATV) and personal watercraft (PWC) programs in council camps in 2010 and 2011, both are now authorized for council-level programming. The 2012 resident camp standards, No. 430-111, define the parameters for both programs. To participate, councils must complete an application for each program. The following documents also are required: All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) Program Application, No. 430-044, and Personal Watercraft (PWC) Program Application, No. 430-045. In addition, Scouts and Venturers must complete permission forms to participate. Please note: Both ATV and PWC use remains unauthorized for use at the unit levelthese programs may only be operated at the council level."