Alamo Area Council (TX) first? to register girls in Cubs

[RememberSchiff]

The Alamo Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America will invite girls to join Cub Scouting from January to May 2018.
This “soft launch” will be open to girls currently in kindergarten for Lions, and girls in the first through fourth grades in Tigers, Wolves, Bears, and Webelos I, a BSA spokeswoman said.

Cub scout dens will be single-gender: all boys or all girls.

The official launch will be at the beginning of the 2018/2019 school year. Webelos II girls will also have to wait until January 2019 when the older girl program is launched, the spokeswoman said. The older girls program will enable them to earn the Eagle Scout rank.

https://www.ksat.com/news/south-texas-boy-scouts-to-open-membership-to-girls-starting-in-january

Edited December 12, 2017 by RememberSchiff
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[Snow Owl]

I am curious what councils are going to do with girl applications before the 2018 school year?  I cannot imagine my council turning down money or anything that boosts their numbers.

[RememberSchiff]

22 minutes ago, Snow Owl said:

I am curious what councils are going to do with girl applications before the 2018 school year?  I cannot imagine my council turning down money or anything that boosts their numbers.

It will be interesting to hear more about Council plans. Maybe that Council will delay Spring Cub recruitment until Fall.

Edited December 12, 2017 by RememberSchiff

[RememberSchiff]

I moved responses regarding using Eagle Scout to recruit Girls to a new topic.

Let's keep this topic about the new launch of admitting girls into Cub Scouts

 

Edited December 12, 2017 by RememberSchiff

[Eagle94-A1]

9 hours ago, Snow Owl said:

I am curious what councils are going to do with girl applications before the 2018 school year?  I cannot imagine my council turning down money or anything that boosts their numbers.

 

According to the current application the BSA is using NOW ( emphasis), there is no gender specific requirement for Cub Scouts, or Boy Scouts for that matter. The application replaced 'boys" with "youth" and "children"

[an_old_DC]

I have heard about this “soft launch” crap from buddies in other councils, although nothing is official yet. Apparently it will be a way to “judge interest in the Program.”

[RememberSchiff]

@an_old_DC have you heard of other "soft launch" councils? So far, this is the only one which I have found.

[an_old_DC]

3 hours ago, RememberSchiff said:

@an_old_DC have you heard of other "soft launch" councils? So far, this is the only one which I have found.

Yes, although it is unofficial at this point, so I do not want to name them. A Cubmaster of a pack with approximately 70 Scouts was asked by a Council-level Pro if he would be willing to soft launch allowing girls in the pack. In another council I am told the exec board is discussing the same thing. This is all unofficial with nothing in writing.

[scotteg83]

Our Council has officially voted with the board of directors to allow girls in Cub Scouts at early as April 2018.  However, there is training requirements needed before the unit will be approved.  The COR, Cm, and CC must sign a document allowing girls into their unit.  At that time, all current direct contact leaders have until April 1st to be fully trained in their position (online or classroom).  Also, any new registered leader will have 30 days to be fully trained or will be dropped as well.  This push was because we do a big even with L.L. Bean in May to push recruitment statewide.

 

Currently any new girl only packs will have to wait till the official launch fall of 2018

[Eagle94-A1]

Apparently, National is allowing councils the option to "soft launch" allowing girls in grades 1-4,  NO 5TH GRADERS ALLOWED, as early as January 1st to test out implementing girls. IMHO this should have been thought out before they even announced allowing girls into the program.

5th grade girls won't be allowed until the 10-18 year old Girl program is unveiled.

I'm getting this from a FB post of a letter sent to council and area key 3s. There is a webinar tonite in Livestream about the soft implementation. And from reading that letter, it looks like June 1 will be when girls are allowed officially.

[NJCubScouter]

2 hours ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

And from reading that letter, it looks like June 1 will be when girls are allowed officially.

That seems to make sense.  In my days as a Cub Scout leader, I recall that June 1 was the date mentioned in the Cub leader book as the "moving-up date" (except for fifth graders of course) and I assume that is still the case.

What I wonder about is whether they are going to have time to do the groundwork they need to do with the CO's so they can actually decide what kind of pack(s) they want to charter and acquire new leaders if necessary.  Or are they just going to assume that all the CO's have heard about this and that they are going to come rushing forward on their own?  And/or, are they going to rely on the existing pack leaders to arrange things with their CO's?  If National chooses either of the last two options, I don't see much chance of success.

[scotteg83]

Live feed link

 

https://livestream.com/bsa/nationalcouncil/videos/167216449

[prof]

New Assistant Chief Scout Executive and new Division Directors? I am glad they are hiring people to oversee the changes, But I hate to see new levels of administration added, when resources could be spent closer to the boys!

[RememberSchiff]

27 minutes ago, prof said:

New Assistant Chief Scout Executive and new Division Directors? I am glad they are hiring people to oversee the changes, But I hate to see new levels of administration added, when resources could be spent closer to the boys!

Need a designated fall guy to blame?

Edited December 14, 2017 by RememberSchiff

[Stosh]

Sorry, but I just don't buy it.  BSA hasn't been serving boys very well for the past 40 years ever since they took on female memberships.  What makes anyone think that adding more females at a younger age is going to turn things around?

As the world grows and develops to an ever more glorious level, one must remember that life revolves around cycles.  At one point, let's just say 1999 everyone was pretty much gung ho on our public school system.  Then came the need to make it even better.  Did anyone ever crunch the numbers to see this grand step into the Brave New World?  Well home schooled children were at 850,000  in 1999 when they first started actually aware of it's magnitude.  That was 1.7% of eligible kids.  Well in 2012, that number had grown to 1.8 million,  or 3.4% of eligible kids.  And there was no organized program to promote this. 

Somebody's doing something different and it is making major gains among our youth in this country.  BSA on the other hand year after year shows a negative trickle downwards during this same period., and have done so for many years prior to that. 

Parents evaluate the situation and society in which their kids are growing up and are making decisions in the best interest of their children.  Obviously for many, it's not in a governmental run or even privately run school system.  The political push now is vouchers so as to have their children NOT in the government run school system. 

So what does the government do?  They double down on the process and fight against vouchers and implement laws making home schooling more difficult.  But it doesn't seem to be working. 

So where does the BSA fit into this model?  It's doubling down on a dying program.  40 years ago, part of the program went co-ed, then co-ed leadership, now fully co-ed.  And the record shows?   Hmmmm.....