Scoutmaster Jim

Ask the general public what Boy Scouts do or excell at. First Aid, Knots, Camping, helping old ladies across the street. Tying knots is a requirement of the first four ranks, not an elective merit badge. The square knot is the second most used symbol of scouting. It is an easily demonstrable skill in a interior setting unlike say following a compass heading.

 

To me knot tying is a fundamental skill that transcends camping and outdoors. It is a skill that is used throughout your lifetime. Please offer a single demonstrable skill that more better examplifies something Boy Scouts know and use that non-Boy Scouts probably don't know.

It should be a decision made by the Patrol Leader's Council, with guidance (presenting the pros and cons) of the Scoutmaster. Would love to see your Council's response if someone stated "In our boy-led Troop the PLC made the decision to go to (the camp outside of Council) beause of xyz"...

qwazse commented #7.1 So, it sounds like your adults don't pay dues. Are you concerned because the boys will have to raise more funds to pay for adult registrations if you keep your pool of adults large? Or, is this about more than just money?

Nope, this is just about funding. We're a small Troop with just 13 Scouts. We have 4 Assistant Scoutmasters of various levels of involvement and a Troop Committee of maybe 8. So effectively we have just as many adults as we do Scouts, and maybe that's a good thing. I do see both points of the responses above. It's the whole $25 a person, which equals a big portion of our treasury, versus what we are getting for that, versus the rules. And having been informed that these funds effectively go 100% to National, the question of what the local Troops get, meaning what the Scouts get, is very valid. Sure, we've discussed whether adult leaders should pay their own charter fee, but as far as the leaders, the ones that attend the events are already paying for their son's camping/food, their gas to get to the camping grounds, etc. To say, now give us another $25, seems a bit unrealistic. At the same time I do like one recommendation above that whether a leader is paid for should be based on their involvement. If they meet a minimal requirement of attendance/involvement then they are paid for, and if not then they either pay for themselves, or it's based on how involved they've been. Maybe for the Troop Committee it should be that anything beyond the Committee Chair and Treasurer has to pay for themselves.

I have experienced issues with this as Scoutmaster. Mainly because of the "Boy Scout Troop Organization Chart" image that can be seen here: http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php...cout-troop.gif. I have found that some of the parents in the Troop Committee see this picture and believe it means that the Scoutmaster works FOR the Troop Committee, who works for the Troop Committee Chair, who works for the Chartered Organization Representative. I have reached out to many professional Scouters, who have explained that this picture is really only showing the "reporting in to" function, as far as the lines connecting the boxes. Within the boxes everything is correct. Within the "Troop" box the Patrol leader "works for" the SPL, who "works for" the Scoutmaster. Within the Troop Committee box the Committee Members "work for" the Committee Chair". But the lines connecting the boxes are only showing that the person responsible for the Troop (the Scoutmaster) reports IN TO the Troop Committee and that the Committee Chair reports IN TO the Chartered Organization Representative. This is why the Scoutmaster attends the Committee meetings and gives a Scoutmaster report. Now here is a question... The same parent(s) who seem focused on the whole "you work for us" idea effectively dismisses the Scoutmaster once his report is complete during the Committee meetings. Committee meetings are always scheduled for 1/2 hour before the regular Troop meetings, so the Scoutmaster has to leave anyway. Is this normal/common? Just seems it would be better to be on an off night and that the Scoutmaster would attend the whole meeting (without the right to vote, of course) so that he is aware of all discussions, and can give his guidance and input. Why would any Troop Committee want to make decisions without the Scoutmaster there?

So mossetracker, if you only register the three, and the others are just volunteers, are volunteers permitted to sit on Boards of Review? Also, what do you guys think about my Assistant Scoutmaster issue, where I have some that can't come to meetings, and others who aren't coming on trips. Yes, I can ask them if they want to be on the charter again, but they would likely just say "yup, put me on". It just seems difficult, like someone wrote above, to say "thanks for stepping up, now pay $25".

We are in the process of working on our re-charter. With the recent hike in charter fees per person we are trying to be smart as we have limited funds. For the Troop Committee I know that by the rules we must list at least 3 members on the charter. Normally those would be the Committee Chair, Committee Treasurer, and Secretary or another position. At the same time we have upwards of ten parents who attend the meetings, including the 3 I've listed, with some having official roles and some not. One member has stated that any parent not listed on the Charter is not on the Troop Committee and can not sit on Boards of Review. It was stated that this is a BSA rule. Although I wouldn't be surprised if it is indeed a BSA rule, I have not been able to find it worded specifically like this. Would anyone know if it is a BSA rule and if so, where it comes from? In many ways this seems a bit overstated since I've seen some Troops use their Assistant Scoutmasters on Boards of Review (which I know is not correct), or parents/leaders from other Troops when necessary (for example, while at Summer Camp). Ultimately we want to do the right thing, but we have very limited funds and plans that will need those funds. At $25 a person including these additional members would take our charter from around $500 to about $800.