Eagle1993

Reports from some on Facebook indicate they are almost at 14,500 and have set a limit of 15,000 scouts due to staffing limits.

Rumor is National Jamboree almost hit their limit 15,000 scouts.

I was told after bankruptcy is closed out. I wouldn't worry about planning for these yet. I heard of these second hand and the final implementation may be different. That said, change is coming. Costs, tools, program, leadership, councils, COs, camps, etc. could all be impacted. BSA, while having a decent recruiting year, considers themselves at war (per a slide displayed in bankruptcy). The insurance company lawyer asked about the war reference and BSA rep didn't really answer. I think BSA sees themselves at war with survival. They will not survive if changes are not made. Their

I would be careful with the topics of requirement 6. In particular, I would avoid those discussions with other scouts present. Some families may not want their dirty laundry shared with the Troop. family_life.pdf (scouting.org)

After a few billion dollar mistakes it starts adding up to a lot of money.

Low chance ... even after they burn through their own cash, National BSA can definitely pull money from councils. Ch7 is a disaster.

To be clear, they really need to be cash flow positive. Those are expensive facilities that require significant funds to maintain plus are under a mountain of debt. If you take into account the full balance sheet including debt and depreciation I bet the outcome is closer to 0 to negative... but short term positive on the cash side. This is just a guess.

During bankruptcy, BSA was clear that Jamborees and HA bases are profitable. Cash flow is typically positive early from what I see. They take in high fees up front and expenses drain that down later.

Big week in the bankruptcy case. Feb 9th and 10th will be the appeals hearing. As mentioned, this will not be over zoom so we will have to wait to hear reporters take (unless any forum members attend).

AOL, Scout & Tenderfoot all have the same knot requirements. To me, it makes more sense to have a new scout who earned AOL work immediately on the Tenderfoot version than simply repeating it for Scout rank and then again for Tenderfoot. They added Scout rank (requirements) in 2016. I think the rank makes sense for someone brand new to scouting. Awarding an AOL scout with Scout rank is an indication they likely already know the very basics of being a scout. Similar to the Military having Eagle scouts start at E-3.

I wouldn't mind requiring SMC at the transition, but don't make them jump through the same hoops. There is not a single scout requirement that expands beyond what they did as AOL (or could have done). Have them start immediately focusing on Tenderfoot vs redoing AOL. They can see the benefits of having another scout sign off on requirements while working on Tenderfoot. I personally see Scout as a momentum killer and a relatively boring introduction into Scouts BSA for someone who earned AOL.

It will be interesting to see what this change really means. I like your idea ... if 4th graders get a taste of Scouts BSA by having to earn scouting adventure and then AOL is really heavily focused on transitioning into Scouts BSA. If Webelos is just 1 more year of pure Cub Scouts and AOL is the 1st time anyone starts really preparing for transition to Scouts BSA ... the truth is that AOL transfer in Feb - May ... so that would mean only 6-8 months. Now, to be fair, I see many packs not spend much time on transition to Scouts BSA until late in 5th grade. So, on the ground, pushing AOL

So ... I'm not aware of all of the changes. Some that may be coming ... Every rank will switch to 6 required adventures and 2 electives. It is not clear if this is the correct #s; however, what was made clear is every rank will have the identical # of required & elective adventures. Bobcat is no longer a rank, it will be an adventure that must be earned for every rank Webelos & AOL will be completely separate. Webelos will go to 1 year. AOL will be full focused on bridging to scouts BSA and much more focus will be on linking AOL scouts to a Scouts BSA Troop.

I went back and hid the comment along with the back and forth as it distracted from the original discussion.

BSA financials released for end of Dec. Summary below of BSA's net unrestricted liquidity (combination of cash on hand + unrestricted investments). Dec/January is typically the peak and then liquidity drop as insurance premium is paid and income drops. Bankruptcy costs have been dropping but I expect that to pick up ... plus they will need to make some payments to the trust at some point. We will probably see 30 - 40M drop in their liquidity by August .. so down to $50-60M. Prior to bankruptcy they were at $240M.

The USDOJ brings the people's elbow (The Rock reference) to the Roman Catholic Church Ad Hoc, Coalition and Pfau request for payment. Easy read. Basically tells them they should pound sand. I have a hard time seeing the judge disagree with the DOJ. I expect a hard rebuke... Perhaps that is hope talking. https://casedocs.omniagentsolutions.com/cmsvol2/pub_47373/95089527-7d85-4e92-b5ac-57f1c41f9158_10944.pdf

In Duluth.... Brrrrrrrrr Great story!

Moose Int recommending termination of existing charter agreements not sure on timing. See attached. OC-January-26.pdf

It has been a while, but it feels like we are getting close to the end (or the beginning of the actual trust). It doesn't seem like District Court is pushing to overturn. In Purdue, the confirmation was September 17th and it took the District Court less than a month to reject the deal. I also do not see the US DOJ pushing hard against the BSA deal (compared to what they did in Purdue). I'm starting to get the impression that approval by District Court is highly likely. If they had major concerns, one would think they would push to hear the appeal more quickly. That doesn't guarantee

I have heard recently that there are changes coming to the Cub Scout program. I'll hold back the specifics for now, but I am curious as to what changes you would like to see. It sounds like changes are in the advanced planning stage and are pending the closure of bankruptcy (hopefully March). If you were running Cub Scouts, what would you do?

It seems odd they only allow this for a religious purpose. It seems like that could be targeted by lawsuits ... like the state is establishing a religion by pushing non-religious institutions with taxes they don't apply to religious ones. Plus, it isn't just religious institutions ... it is that + museums. In my state, yes, churches don't pay but most other non profit organizations don't have to pay property tax. They don't just separate out museums + churches. The fix is even more odd. Why not other youth organizations? Why not other non-profit organizations? I'm glad I don't

I don't understand. Why would religious institutions be exempt from paying personal property tax but other non profits are not exempt? Even the fix doesn't sound great. What about 4H or First Robotics teams?

I think this is why it is nearly impossible to predict where BSA will be in 10 years. Either Scouts UK or Scouts Canada could be our future. Scouts Canada - added girls in 1993 ... down to 21,788 total youth members. So, 0.4% of youth in Canada are registered members of Scouts Canada. The #1 search item I saw about Scouts Canada was "Does Scouts Canada still exist". UK Scout Association - added girls in 1991 ... 412,986 total youth members with 90,000 on a waiting list. So, 4.8% of youth in UK are registered members of UK Scout Association ... or 12 times the per capita youth that

The council defense is probably flimsy. I would think they would settle.

BSA has clear rules that the unit violated. I'm not sure what else the BSA could have done to prevent this. Now, the council who owns the camp. If any council employee was aware of this situation or gave approval, then the council should be held liable. If it simply happened at their camp, without their approval nor seen by any employee ... then I struggle to see how they are liable. If all the council did was having unapproved targets, I struggle to see how that would be blamed for this incident. Unit leaders & CO ... could be held liable. How was the barrel not pointed d