How to drop a boy from our roster....

[WestCoastScouter]

(1) A boy and family has moved out of our town....

 

How can we remove him from our roster, so we are not penalized by not re-registering him during chartering?

 

(2) Another family has the phone diconnected, and no response to emails. Can we remove him?

[Eagle92]

With the one that moved, did you fill out transfer paperwork for him to take to his new unit?

 

As for removing youth form the charter, the council will probably not remove them until recharter time unless the one that moved pays the $1 transfer fee and his records get switched, and you have no control over that. I know that in my neck of the woods during round ups, we would get all comers trying to ge thte cool gimme the council gave out. Once they got the gimme, after paying the fees, you never saw them again. had several troop try to remove them, and the DFS said we couldn't until charter renewal 'casue they paid their fees.

[John-in-KC]

Your charter fees are determined by your youth and adult headcount when you recharter.

 

For the boy who relocated, I'd contact him/his family, and invite to forward what records your Troop has, so he can pick up where he left off after making new friends. Encourage him to join a Troop; his fee for the rest of the year is $1 plus unit dues.

 

BTW, if you charge $X per year per Scout, you should, when he comes up on the grid, remit him the balance of what he paid in... and if relocation causes him to miss camp or another event, to me honor says you remit those fees too. After all, Council will place no-show $$ in your Council account.

 

As for the boy whose family has dropped off the face of the earth, I think a delegation of SM under two deep, PL and SPL need to pay a friendly call to his home. Invite him for a hot dog somewhere, and invite him to re-engage. There may be strained economy in his family; if that's the case, have some ideas in your back pocket about how a Scout can be Thrifty and pay his own Scouting way (and perhaps help his family). If, though, his family is gone, notify your UC that you will have a dropped boy (moved without a forwarding address), and that you'll be dropping him at recharter.

 

If your unit is having boys with economic distress, that's a matter for Mr SM and Mr CC to have a friendly cup of coffee with Mr COR about. See what opportunities are out there for boys to pay their way (and perhaps help their families) while still Scouting.

[AwHeck]

Regarding the boy who has moved, you should not be penalized for not re-registering him at charter renewal. Retention is calculated by first subtracting unavoidable losses such as boys who have moved or aged out. There is a form to fill out listing all who are not re-registering and the reason for non-renewal.

[Twocubdad]

How will you be penalized at recharter? The rack? Waterboarding? Your secret decoder ring recalled?

[Basementdweller]

They are worried about the quality unit patch. The patch is absolutely meaningless to cub age boys and maybe slightly more meaning for for scout or venturer.

 

Doubt me? walk up to any scout at a district or council and ask what the patch means and what it is for. Most will not know. Ask them about the world conservation award too, a few with know the panda patch, or council strip.

 

 

[shortridge]

I had the same question as Twocubdad.

 

Basementdweller - If I read the QU requirements correctly, units are not penalized by dropping members. The requirements say nothing about net increases or decreases in membership. There is a youth retention goal, set by the unit, and a numerical goal of recruiting new members, also set by the unit.

 

In no way should a unit be penalized for having a Scout move out of town or drop off the grid.

 

I agree with you about the importance of the award and patch, however.

[momma_bee]

Our council has, at times, offered us plans to cover the cost of Cub Rank patches for the year if we showed an increase as of Dec 31st. We never made it because they would base our projected number on the previous Decembers numbers. So, you have to replace, Cub-for-Cub, every boy who bridged, moved, or quit. And then add.

 

It was frustrating and well, in some ways, made us feel like we didn't measure up because other Packs did it. With the declining enrollment in our school district, having the same number of boys enroll from a class actually represents an increase in the percentage of boys in Scouts.

 

Now, take that to quality unit. I have to increase the number, but there are times that maintaining the number is an increase in percentage of available boys.

 

It would be nice if there was an adjusted number of boys on the roster and goals were made from that. But, that would become difficult to track or verify. My circumstances may match yours - but you market better. Do I need to learn from you or just get a break? What would benefit the unit / district / council? (oh, teach me how to sell, please)

 

But, I do understand the frustration. The year PoppaBee became CM, we had around 15 boys on the charter who should not have been left on it at all, and then had a few who did not return in the fall. We had to replace them all, plus some, to get no more than 20 free patches. Of course, we would then be getting 35 free patches, but still...Pulling even 10 boys into a Tiger Den would have represented 33% of the boys in 1st grade.

 

It is about more than the QU.

 

And, my boy will question you on the QUALITY of your program if given the chance - he does not view it at a membership patch, even though it mostly is just that. One year we earned it and I didn't turn in the paperwork because it didn't seem 'right' to me. The DE filled it out and told the SM he forgot to sign it and the patches appeared.