Issue3

Boy Scouts - I recently voted to allow the Boy Scouts of America back into our schools, to
recruit students, one time per year.

This is a common practice amongst almost all schools in the country. It was common practice
in Brevard County until 3 years ago. At that time an organization that was considered
questionable, wanted equal time in the classroom. The board determined that the best way to
avoid granting this organization equal time, was to not allow anyone into the classroom.

The impact to Scouting was significant. There was a 50% reduction in participation in Brevard
County.

Many community leaders approached me, and other board members, to consider changing this
policy back to allow the boy scouts into the schools. This created controversial arguments as to
why scouting leaders should not be allowed back into the schools. I recognize that there may be
some validity to some of the arguments, however more and more children need the structure and
positive guidance that organizations like the boy scouts provide. Until we live in a perfect world,
we can't expect our policies, nor everything we do, to be perfect. What we can expect, is that we
will do the best job we can to provid opportunities for our students.