treasurermom

I'm doing the internet recharter for our pack and ran into this problem of a Webelo aging out. We have a boy whose birthdate is December 1994, so he will be 12 this month. He's a "special needs" kid who does really well in scouts and will probably go on to a troop, it's just that he's a lot older than the other boys. He is still in fifth grade.

The recharter program doesn't give me any options - just says he's too old to be a cub scout. I had this happen with another boy a few years ago and I just changed his birthdate in the computer. I don't like to lie, but has anyone else figured a workaround for this?

We got word that the church that is the charter org. for our pack (and also for a troop in our area) no longer is willing to be our CO. The problem is that in our area we have very few churches (and only one has a real building - the rest meet at schools). We can't find another church or other organization willing to charter us. We have contacted our DE and he wasn't much help, although he mentioned that we could form our own group of parents and they could be our charter.

The leadership of our pack, the troop and a new troop forming in our area have discussed forming this group and chartering all three units.

I'm really active with our the parent group at our school and I know the physical part of how to form a group like this (getting an EIN, filing articles of incorporationa and incorporating, applying for a 501c3, etc. My only issue is insurance - would the BSA insurance cover our group? Since the charger org. is responsible for approving the unit's adult leadership, I can see huge liability for the directors of this group if there was some abuse by an adult leader.

My final question is about the finances. Would each unit have to report their finances to the charter org. and then the charter org. have to file the 990 form with the IRS? Is that the way a regular charter (like a church) works the finances?

I would appreciate some feedback on forming a group just to charter units. Thanks

Cubmaster Jerry -

If you treat people in your pack the way you treated me on this forum then I feel sorry for the members of your pack. You were incredibly rude and you owe me an apology. I certainly never made this issue personal and neither should you.

Believe me, I can divide properly. So can the rest of the committee, several of whom are the parents of Webelos II and were affected by the decision. We do prorate for the new boys that start in September (they only pay that year's dues from September to December and then pay for the next year when we recharter). I know it sounds contradictory, but the committee decided that all boys should pay for the entire year if they are members at the beginning of the recharter year. No one else had a problem except this particular woman. I saw both sides of the issue. But it wasn't my decision alone and the committe made a decision. Money is an issue for us this year - our school district is charging us $600 per year just to use the school two nights per month for meetings.

We never made this all about the mom - she's the one who decided to hurt her son by making an issue out of the dues. This is the same mom who has her son in his THIRD den in five years because she could not get along with adults. To her it was never about her kid - it was always about her and her problems.

One member described her as a bully and that is the perfect description. She is already causing trouble at the troop level. She claims the scouts at one of the troop visits harrassed and picked on her son and is spreading this around at the other troops they visit. However, none of the other boys who were there, including my son, saw or heard anything. Maybe you would like to have this woman in your pack, Cubmaster Jerry!

I just wanted to follow up with how this story ended. We (the committee) never discussed this issue outside the committee. However, the mom involved apparently broadcast it all over about how unfair our rules were. I received an email from another parent in the pack who offered to pay this boy's dues anonymously so that she could make sure he could participate in AOL.

We decided to accept the offer and received the dues for the boy. I emailed his mom and told her the situation and that since he was paid up there was no further need for discussion on the subject. I also said I was sworn to secrecy so I would not reveal the name of the donor. I have not heard from the mom since and obviously no one outside the committee will ever know where the money came from.

Alls well that ends well. Once we have AOL we won't have to deal with this woman again. She has already chosen a troop for her son and since we have a choice of troops that factor is weighing in on the decision of where my son will be going.

I guess I need to give a few more details in this situation. I really appreciate the feedback.

This boy is currently in his third den in our pack. None of the issues that made him change dens were with the boy (although he's really immature and does have some behavior issues). It's really the mom that has problems. We have tried our best over the last few years to keep things calm and under control but she is really difficult to work with. It is not that they can't afford the money.

I don't know if a troop would accept him now. He just turned 10 a few weeks ago and as I said he's really immature. He went on a troop visit and claimed the Boy Scouts picked on him during a game (my son and his friends had a fabulous time and none of them saw anything). I don't know that he really wants to go on to Boy Scouts but his mom really wants him to.

We have three other packs in our area and none of them prorate dues since Arrow of Light and the Webelos badges are big expenses. With BSA registration/Boys Life being $22 per year, that leaves us with about $50 per boy for expenses. We are spending about $500 per month on awards for a 65-member pack. We live in Southern California where prices are sky-high, and this year we have to pay for the rental of the meeting room at our school. Our charter, a church, does not have a building where we can meet. We also have 18 Webelos II who will be bridging so prorating the dues for them would really hit our budget. We do sell popcorn but do not enough raise enough money to offset the dues much. We pay for Pinewood derby cars, track and room rental, help pay for our Blue and Gold banquet, and we pay for several big outings for the boys during the year.

Our committee discussed this issue twice and both times voted not to prorate.

I feel really bad for the boy being caught in the middle of this, but our CM is really firm that he feels we need to stand tough.

BTW - this woman has already signed her younger son up with another pack (they would not take the older boy) but since her registration with our pack is good through December she is doing things with both packs.

I need help with a touchy issue. I'm the treasurer of our pack. I am collecting dues for our recharter. We have the parent of one of our Webelos II who doesn't want to pay dues for 2006 because her son will be bridging to Boy Scouts in April. Our committee voted not prorate dues for Web. II scouts. Our dues are high - $75 per year - but that covers everything and we are a large pack and give out lots of awards. I did a budget analysis and that's what we need to get by next year with enough money to cover all our expenses.

Anyway, this boy has almost met is AOL requirements. His dues are paid through December 31st. His mom does not want to pay for next year but she wants him to be able to come back and do the AOL ceremony with the other boys in March or April. This is not a matter of money or we would offer a scholarship - she is just a difficult parent.

Here's my question (we have conflicting opinions in our pack). Since the boy will not be a registered BSA member, can he come back and participate? Can we hold a separate ceremony for him before 12/31?

Thanks for your input!