Momleader

I’m so frustrated as a leader. I have over 12 years as a cub leader. And have a lot of experience special ed students (my own children).  We have a family in the pack who joined and stayed a year then transferred to another pack and came back last school year. The poor boy clearly doesn’t want to participate and  He has educational/attention challenges which from the outside it look like immaturity and stubborness but it’s actually been diagnosed. Anyhow poor kid when comes He tells us he wants to leave as soon as a den Or pack meeting starts - when the parents leave he sulks  or is very disruptive. This year the parent say our pack needs to supply a mentor scout like a den chief or adult leader for him because the school provides a para educator daily.   We are all doing the best we can but just don’t have enough adults for this mandate. We have 1 leader covering 2 dens, committee chair handling advancement and a den, One  leader with 1 den and just got a parent to volunteer for tigers. How much can the parents reasonably require of us?  The mom always says she’ll take it to Council and make us give him services like school does and we’re ready to say “Fine  that’s your right”. How can we get these parents to stay and help him when the other parents drop off for meetings. We aren’t trained special educators just folks trying hard for the kids so they all get the best experience possible.  

I think BSA should waive the 2021 registration fees for scouts who paid the fees in 2020.  It would be the fair thing to do.

DavidCO you are on to something there!  Our fees for 2021 went up $21 they went up $19 in 2020. We are WELL over the $100 threshold now.   Many families in our pack are now scrambling with extra childcare costs under the hybrid schooling schedules. I’m sure it’s the same nationwide. I get that BSA is a really a business - but they’re not showing much goodwill toward their customers (an increase And laying off council and national employees not to mention not offering live programming due to covid safety protocols). The message our council gave us was “parents  see the value and pay for the extra online content as well as the fees. Packs should be fundraising for the unit level dues”.   {My pack had NO parents participate in the online pay to play activities council ran stating they ‘paid their council program fee when they joined‘ - yup}

As for fall meetings - our school system tried to shut us down on recruitment & meetings - so we can’t use school ball fields/No Clubs or extracurricular activities on school grounds K-12. Our CO is having no groups use the church hall.  We surveyed the parents - the bulk feel with online requirements of school (3 days online)  if the pact/den program is going to be online we will lose most.  So we are Planning pack meetings at the local state park and doing outdoor as much as possible - they’ll need to get appropriate outerwear I guess. Dens will meet at the town beaches and playground parks weather permitting. 

This week council has cancelled all fall events, use of and camping at council camps for the fall too. They will decide after Labor Day if they will allow units to camp on their own. 
 

so yeah - national and councils need to NOT raise their fees or combined with the bankruptcy issues they’ll lose more members. 

Anyone’s units selling through the app?  Are families happy with how it’s going?  
The pack  is going to try again this year after a couple years off and am hoping that it’s as easy as they said it is during the presentation. 

On 8/8/2020 at 8:34 AM, Eagle94-A1 said:

@Momleader,

Please let your Scout come up with ideas on their own based upon the requirements in the MB. The more you try and "help," the more opportunities you take away.

This is an opportunity for your Scout to do research, and come up with ideas, thinking outside of the box if needed. If you give them ideas for the project you are taking away the opportunity for them to think on their own. 

If your Scout is having challenges, then the MBC is the one who should be asked, and by the Scout.

The kids in my pack  aren’t the ones asking. I was just throwing out some ideas for the original poster who asked for for suggestions.   Maybe the MBC is someone meeting with the scout virtually or maybe the scout has other issues the parents are aware of and didn’t get into on here.  These are unprecedented times and a little grace for others goes a long way. 
 

What exactly does the $25 new joiner fee do for the scouts or their families? What’s the purpose of it?  We are meeting and I know this will come up at our leader meeting, we’ve asked our council but they said it’s a fee to join that national has set and all new will have to pay it.  They don’t have a thing else to say - 

Has anyone else gotten information that’s a little more specific?

Im sure the parents In our area can’t be the only ones in the country actively trying to find and pay for childcare because our schools are moving to the part time in school model and the other part of the time is distance learning. Is national aware that this and the increased fees could be a cause for some to not be able to join? 

And yes, we are selling the popcorn but the new kids won’t be up and selling until they’re registered.  

What about weeding town areas. Helps out the public works crews. Or planting flower baskets at library and schools and senior centers?  There Is enough doom and gloom colorful plantings could make people’s day

I’m a CC for our Town’s pack. We tried to do at home/zoom den and pack meetings. Parents didn’t log in. honestly some were Struggling with distance learning and stress. We did a couple NOVA offerings, 2 den leaders made up elective adventure kits and delivered to their den members.  Midway we sent a survey and parents responded just staying on top of the schooling was what they could handle - so i mailed out a listing of where their cub was toward rank and asked that they finish  up as they could and record in Scoutbook. 
 

After many many years of CC work I’ve learned what I may do at my house possibly won’t work for others. 
 

we dont force or flex our position of responsibility onto anyone unless its a safety Issue or YPT violation.  This way we have the family’s always feel welcome. 

19 hours ago, David CO said:

Sorry.  I'm not sure I understand.  Aren't most public pools and beaches open to children of all ages?  Don't most restaurants (like McDonalds) serve children of all ages?  Why would parents get upset over their child using a swim area or dining hall (at scout camp) that serves children of all ages?  I should think their kids are already very familiar with the concept.  I just don't get it.
 

Sorry - didn’t splain that well. 
The parents aren’t crazy about the idea of 2nd -4th graders being in camp/dining hall with high school age campers for a week. A few staffers is different.   Before we merged with a neighboring pack they had Webelos attend Webelos camp in a neighboring council and apparently the boys picked up some colorful vocabulary from the Older Boy Scouts at the waterfront. Parents all filled in the others - I wasn’t there just have to deal with the ‘remember what happenEd when’ - after the merge our pack went to the cub weeks at the camp the council sold and there was no issues again, haven’t been able to get parent to send the cubs to the other council camps since the sale. 
 

Then there is the ‘what if little cubby gets I’ll/inconsolably homesick/injured and we have to drive over an hour one way to get them?’  some parents can’t get over that in their heads. 

That is heartbreaking for the current cubs and incoming cubs. 
Our council - who did the same thing. Even though all their camps offer cub camping they had one camp that was really geared toward good cub camping and used to be full every summer Plus the OA used it a lot. There were full weeks of just cub scouts in camp. Then that council sold it and at an auction and according to them now cub leaders aren’t promoting the cub camping program enough and cub camping program on this side state has Really suffered losses in numbers of kids doing day camp and overnights. Parents don’t want to send their first year camper over an hour away where they get a section of the camp during regular older scout week and have to share swim area with older and much bigger kids and the dining hall. Incase something happens.  And the nearest cub day camp is an hour by car and hour ten-twenty by school bus  it used to be only 30 minutes 

On 7/15/2020 at 2:13 PM, TroopWebmaster said:

Thoughts

See what CO and your council advise. This is a sticky situation. In the meantime be as supportive as possible for the kid - sounds like they could be pulled in many directions emotionally. 

It’s a shame but the risks and stakes are high. If my own kids were of the age to go I would have second thoughts unless there was a vaccine 

Will they have tent platforms?

Are they aware that it’s the local leaders who are trying to implement and provide programming to the youth while filling out all their metrics for these JTE and recruitment quotas while working full time, raising their own families,  Selling popcorn, cultivating relationships with schools and chartered orgs and trying to keep current on the training?  This is the hardest volunteer gig there is

Holy moly I think I’m going to lose my mind.   This fall will mark my 15th with our Cub Pack in town.  I’m honestly feeling quite overwhelmed with recruiting, popcorn kernaling and scheduling for program this fall. 

Like the rest of the country we essentially lost half a year of scouting because of the virus now our council will be offering online signups to families where families can pay their new joining fees directly to the council so essentially their September- December fees. Nevermind we the pack will need to be responsible for acting as the collection agency for January - December 2021 (which is due 12/1/20 at recharter).  The fee increases aren’t helping - last year fees increased after our joining event so the pack ate it at almost $20/cub. This year it’s up another $30!  

Thankfulky I have all our required forms (emergency contact, photo releases, BSA health forms and pack info & intro flyer ready to roll out) but we still don’t have a clue of what school will look like in September.  We can’t schedule den/pack meetings because our CO (Church) is debating letting any groups meet there and schools haven’t decided either, we can’t schedule camp outs because council camps are closed and our state still has a limit on gatherings over 25 people.  

We’re have families who feel their kids didn’t get the full experience they paid for this spring and have mentioned it - Because events were cancelled - we honestly tried zoom meetings but a lot of leader/parents were just treading water With jobs, instant homeschooling, The uncertainty - state mandated stay at home orders messed up the last 3 big events. 

We have had district mergers and so far programming committee positions have to be applied for and interviewed for by the appointed new district committee key 3 - at this rate how will things kick off by September?  But we were reminded at virtual Roundtable to enter our JTE stuff 🤦‍♀️ And grow the unit!  

Anyone else feeling overwhelmed and worn down before the race has started?

Why should anyone who was a youth in prior to 1989 (Say 1981-87) have any liability at all!  Why punish them with liability?  

There needs to be some serious work done by BSA - 

our Council was one of the ones that laid off Half the DEs and all but 3 support staff - citing expenses. Yet kept the SE who will get contracted increase anD makes more than some PhD school superintendents I  ouR area

Volunteers have shared they and a lot of their coworkers have had pay cuts as have their bosses so that more of them can keep their jobs.   Volunteers have mentioned this at zoom meetings and are starting to ask the hard questions - ‘what exactly are the kids and families getting for the $ you are paid’

Golf shirts for cubs!  Much more affordable and easier for kids who have trouble with buttons or sensory issues

This year for a brand new to cubs in my Council:

uniform shirt $35, belt for loops $12, rank hat $15, neckerchief $15, rank handbook $15. Then new kid joining fee $25 annual national & council fees $120. Pack dues $25minimum.   $262 as a baseline this year if everything is bought new and before any fundraising happens. 

They need to find a way to make entry more affordable:  Older scouts buy at least 2-3 uniform shirts thru their career , 1 handbook, 1 hat, 1 neckerchief to get them through. They should do the same for Cub Scouts to some degree. 

Our Chartered Org Doesn’t want us meeting in the church building this fall and we got official word the elementary schools will not be allowing use after hours because they are using that time to sanitize for the next day.   Still waiting to see if the public libraries will allow us to use their community rooms for den meetings. Our CO said to follow their child safety rules and combine with BSA YPT - so please,  no in home den meetings. 
 

We are looking at moving to a hike of the month model for the fall and early winter pack meetings. BYOS (bring your own snack).

Good thing is it forces them outside. 
Bad thing is not sure if all will make it to the meetings. And we’re back to giving baggies of awards at the end so they don’t lose on the hike.   And then there is bad weather rescheduling and sports conflicts 🤦‍♀️.  Ugh

18 hours ago, CynicalScouter said:

69roadrunner - that is awful and I feel your pain. This is really going to make recruiting a challenge this year. Nevermind the $25 new to scouting fee in addition to registration fees & Council fees.  It would be helpful to be able to tell returning and New parents - we will meet at XYZ location every ‘Wednesday’ at this time unless there is a holiday or unsafe weather. 
 

Ideally he should have asked for help from his current troop, and then reached out to the youth in his old troops. He also could have had friends from school and other organizations like youth group or sports teams assist him as well on the work party days. Part of learning to be a leader includes recruitment of helpers for work parties. 

How about less focus one recruiting one gender over another and getting all genders to join Scouts BSA. Our council allows all girl troops to exist with 5 members but if a all boy troop drops below 8 they suggest merging With another nearby.   We get it. Girls can join and work toward Eagle tank - now lets work on getting more 11-18 year olds into the the program regardless of gender. 

We’re looking into alternatives - Like the library Community room and the firehouse.  Our CO has requested we NOT meet at leader homes so that everyone is covered by YPT and Safe Church. Trying to line up stuff so we can have a leader / parents planning meeting. 
 

We wanted to reserve the local park pavilion for the crossover/end of the year awards and were shot down because the max number is 25 until more restrictions are lifted later this summer. 

Our CO, church in town ,  gave the pack meeting space for free, our school system charges to have meetings in the schools in the evening  to cover the cost of having a custodian there to clean and lock up.  with COVID the CO has halted the use of the building to all until september.  Heard through the church secretary they may only have be having church services there and no extra meetings allowed (they will still store our stuff)  and the word from the school district is schools may only be used for school related sports after hours at the middle and high school, elementary schools won't be used after school hours except by afterschool care.  Puts us in a bit of a bind to find places to have den and pack meetings without a community center building in town.

We haven’t had that but until last February our school district didn’t allow the BSA units to use school property for meetings or events because of the single gender issue & before that it was because of the homosexual leaders and scouts membership issues so it’s just par for the course in my part of the country. All the local units gave up trying - and found other places for meetings and events. Wonder if this has changed. 
 

lucky for us the United Church of Christ (congregational) & catholic churches are pretty open to any youth organization.