I got this info in a newsletter just last week--I had deleted it moments before I logged on here, then saw this post!

*****Supporting scouting units has been a topic of discussion for PTA for several
years. This paper neither encourages nor discourages this practice; it is simply
meant to provide additional information on the topic. National PTA primarily
encourages local, district, council, and state PTAs to participate in specific
PTA programs and activities. The decision to support a scouting unit should be
made on a case-by-case basis to determine the best course of action for the
individual PTA. It is very important to read and understand all of the official
documents provided to the PTA when engaging in any outside program, group, or
organization.

In the information that follows, PTA is referred to as the “chartered
organization” and the scouting organization is referred to as the unit,
district, and council.

Per the Scouting Annual Charter Agreement, the chartered organization agrees to:

- Conduct the scouting program according to its own policies as well as those of
the Boy Scouts of America (BSA).

- Include scouting as part of its overall program for youth and families.

- Appoint a chartered organization representative who is a member of the
chartered organization and will coordinate all scouting unit operations within
it. He or she will represent the chartered organization to the scouting district
and serve as a voting member of the local BSA council.
- Select a scouting unit committee of parents and of members of the chartered
organization (minimum of three) who will screen and select scouting unit leaders
who meet the chartered organization’s standards as well as the leadership
standards of BSA.

- Provide adequate facilities for the scouting unit to meet on a regular
schedule with time and place reserved.

- Encourage the scouting unit to participate in outdoor experiences, which are
vital elements of scouting.

The BSA council agrees to, among other things:

- Provide primary general liability insurance to cover the chartered
organization and its board, officers, chartered organization representative,
employees, and volunteers currently registered with BSA. Coverage is provided
with respect to claims arising out of an official scouting activity with the
exception that the coverage is in excess of any insurance which may be available
to the volunteer for loss arising from the ownership, maintenance, or use of a
motor vehicle or watercraft. This insurance is only available while the vehicle
or watercraft is in the actual use of a scouting unit and being used for a
scouting purpose.

- Provide insurance to unregistered scouting volunteers through the BSA general
liability insurance program in excess of any other insurance the volunteer might
have to his or her benefit, usually a homeowner’s, personal liability, or auto
liability policy.

BSA would be considered an alliance or a cooperating organization of the PTA. It
is recommended that the voting body of the PTA approve such agreements.
Finally, it is recommended that all PTA units be incorporated to add an extra
layer of protection for the officers and volunteers while they are engaged in
PTA-sponsored activities of all types.

Taken from the National PTA – March 2005.

thanks so much for the link.

Interesting we have not rec'd anything from our local Cub Scouts group on this yet.

I plan to make phone calls tomorrow.

Thanks again!!

Chartering a Boy Scout troop ONLY means that you have to provide a "meeting space" for the Pac meetings. "Each chartered organization using the scouting program provides a meeting place and adult volunteer leadership for it's BSA unit(s). The chartered organization and local council must approve unit money earning projects before the launch of the project". I took this off our local BSA website.

A parent group has absolutely NO financial obligation to the scouts . . .

We recently went through this with our girl scouts and I looked into every detail of both because once one asked, the other did the same.

It is a topic that URKS me to no end as these leaders are taking the "easy way out" of getting financial support instead of teaching the children "responsibilty" and "use resourses wisely". What are these kids learning? They are learning to "Go to an organization and ask for money so we don't have fundraise". URGHHHHHHHH

Now, back to the chartering subject, Because I'm the PTO Pres and we charter our boy scouts, I was sent a letter dated April 6th stating:

"The National Council of BSA in March directed local councils to begin transferring sponsorship of Cub Scout packs, Boy Scout troops and Venture crews from public school and government entities to private organizations. This is the result of threatened legal action by American Civil Liberties Union against public schools and government entities for apparent violation of the First Amendment in their direct sponsorship of Scout units." "Partnerships for the future will move unit sponsorship to private organizations, such as PTA/PTOs and service clubs."

you can find more info at www.stlbsa.org

This topic has made me hot under the collar... can ya tell! :eek:

I can only speak for Girl Scouts where I live, but not a single troop is chartered by or supported by anyone. We have to raise our own money! That is what scouting is all about!

Not Girl Scouts! It seems to be only a Boy Scout phenomenon...

I am totally (T O T A L L Y !) against sponsoring a boy scout troop with PTO/PTA/HSA or whatever the anacronynm is. Aren't boy scouts supposed to learn the value of earning their own way like the girl scouts do? I think it is the easy way out for any boy scout troop to even approach a school group for money.

She told me “we thought we would ask since the PTO made over 26K at the last auction”.

??!!! What does that have to do with the price of tea in China? Maybe I will go ask Mr. Trump for a cool million since he made so much money last year

Oh boy, this is a HOT TOPIC for our group!!!

Our PTO found out about a year ago that we have been the Charter Organization (Parent Organization) for our local Cub Scout troop for at least the last 15 years. Apparently one of our former Presidents signed off on the paperwork (there is NOTHING in our files and she couldn’t provide us with any paperwork). This former President was and still is VERY active in scouting in our town. So each year when the renewal form was due, she would sign it and the PTO would give her a check for processing (I’m not sure why the issue has not been raised over the years, but I am relatively new to the organization). It came to our attention last year by one of our active PTO members, who is also a CS den leader, that we are the CO. We didn’t have much of a discussion and requested more information to find out what our responsibilities would be.

Well, all heck broke loose this year at Christmas time. The Cub Master for our local CSs (husband of the person who told us about our title) came to our December meeting and requested a donation of $1000 to offset the cost their blue & gold banquet (54 boys would be attending this banquet plus family members). He made it sound like we “have a responsibility to the CSs to support them etc.” We were definitely taken by surprise. We decided to table the vote since we didn’t have a quorum & felt we needed more information before we voted to give them any money at all.

I made a few calls to people involved with the CSs past and present and asked if they were having financial difficulties and the treasurer said no. She told me “we thought we would ask since the PTO made over 26K at the last auction”. I was furious. We took a vote at our January meeting and it was voted 10-2 against giving the CSs any money. This caused a lot of bad blood between some of the members. We decided to let things “die down” and a small sub committee of people will be meeting in the next few weeks to decide where to go from here.

I have since spoken to the Head of the Regional Chapter of the CSs and he told me that being the CO, the only responsibilities are to supply a meeting place (we don’t have one since we are a K-12 PTO). The CS is encouraged to be thrifty and self-supporting. He was shocked to learn of the CSs request. He told me that some CO are very involved with their local group (donate money, give them a meeting space etc.) but if an organization just wanted to sign a piece of paper so the CSs could stay in existence, that was fine too. Our PTO has giving the CSs opportunities over the past year to manage the coatroom at our Auctions and set up a table at our Town Fair free of charge. Whatever they make, they keep.

As the CO, the PTO can tell the CSs what they can and can’t do. We can tell them who and who cannot be a den leader or cub master. We have control of their money. We can tell them how to spend their money etc. It’s an endless list of things.

Honestly, I really don’t want to be in the CSs business! We never have and don’t want to in the future. I would like to keep it status quo but I think our situation is beyond that at this time. We did renew our Charter papers again this year. If we didn’t, the CS would not be able to exist in our town until they were able to get another organization/church/business to be their parent organization.

So, we are meeting in a few weeks. I will let you know how it goes. If anyone has any input, please let me know!! For more information on Charter Org. etc. go to www.scouting.org