rmonigle 10 Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Hi all, Our trooop recently was notified that our chartered organization (Local PTA) was "regrettably" dropping its relationship with us after many years. They cited a couple of issues that, to be honest, are basically fluff for what our council thinks is a more deep seeded reason. They stated that their governing body stated they would not be covered in legal cases, should one come up (As you all know, BSA's liability insurance extends to the CO and it's rep). They also stated an issue with the wording of the Charter Agreement, as it relates to the CO's responsibility of providing a meeting place for the Troop. Our troop meets in one of the local schools and has been for a number of years. In addition, our troop is allowed to use a room on the back of the school as storage for all our gear. The CO believes that in the event of a school budgetary issue, they may be responsible for paying the building use fee for themselves, our troop and the other 4 Scout groups they charter. Again, the council and our leaders think this is just a load of bull that they are feeding us to cover up the real reason (the whole discriminiation issue that every other Scout group is facing lately). The one issue does have merit, I think. Who would be responsible for use charges of a meeting place, if it is not a location provided by the CO in their own facility? Right now, we do not get charged for using the school, mostly on the premise of being a NFP organization. If we continue to meet at the school, but are chartered by another organization (a church), would they be financially responsible should a fee be instituted? I'm just curious to find out if anyone else has run into this issue. Thanks for your responses in advnace. Link to post Share on other sites
eisely 13 Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Our troop is not chartered to a local PTA, but we do meet at a local public school. The school district tried to impose severe usage fees several years ago, but apparently not discriminatorily against the scout troop. The motivation was simply money. Jesse Helms sponsored federal legislation that passed and was signed by the president that prohibits discrimination against scout units by schools that receive federal money. As I understand the legislation, it does not prohibit usage fees, but states that the scouts cannot be treated any differently than any other organization. There was a school district in Florida that tried to discriminate against BSA and this law was adopted to counter that. If there is a fee and the chartered organization does not want to pay it, then the unit has little choice but to suck it up and budget for the fees. Link to post Share on other sites
shortridge 184 Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 If costs are a concern, you might want to consider alternative outdoor meeting places, which can be used for most of the year. Is there a community park, state park, open field, farm or large back yard that the troop can use? Outdoor meetings are preferable to indoor ones any day of the week. If really bad weather comes up, cancel the meeting. If it's just raining, put up patrol tarps and continue. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest OldGreyEagle Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Please reply to similar thread in the open program section Link to post Share on other sites
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