Though official recommendations have yet to be made, a 4J School District advisory board is working toward a decision that could strip the Boy Scouts of America’s access to the district.
“We’ve heard from a lot of people since our first meetings in November, and there have been a lot of people with statements about the good the Boy Scouts have done,” said Gretchen Miller, chairwoman of the Equity Committee and adjunct professor in the University’s Planning, Public Policy and Management program. “But there is concern among the community that those good things aren’t open to everyone.”
The committee will likely recommend barring the Boy Scouts from using the school facilities for free and banning individual schools from sponsoring troops, assistant superintendent Jim Slemp said.
The district is addressing the issue after the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the organization’s standing as a private organization that can set its own standards for memberships, specifically limiting homosexuals from serving as troop leaders.
The Bethel School District was the first in Oregon to react to the decision, and stripped the Scouts of extra privileges in the district. However, the district rescinded the decision before it took effect. Since then, Eugene’s 4J School District has also been reviewing the issue.
The committee stressed that its goal is not to decide the value of a program like the Boy Scouts of America, but to decide how a program not open to all students fits in with the school district’s policies.
“The issue is not whether or not the Boy Scouts are a good organization,” Miller said. “That’s a given. In a general sense, [the question is] how should the district spend its resources on a program that isn’t open to all students.”
Committee members will likely finalize their recommendation when they vote on whether to allow the Boy Scouts the ability to recruit during school hours at their Feb. 27 meeting.
The committee’s suggestions will be passed on to the superintendent of the 4J district, Miller said. He then has the choice to either pass the recommendations on to the school board or do nothing with it. If changes in policy regarding the Boy Scouts of America are accepted by the school board, the decision will not take effect until next year.
Regardless of any decision the district makes, the community will continue to support the program, said Mike Marchese, assistant Boy Scout executive for Western Oregon.
“The schools have always been very friendly to scouting,” Marchese. “We’re flexible, and we’ll roll with the punches.”