Cub Scout leader says U-46 flier policy hurting membership

A new school board policy will hurt Cub Scout membership, a local troop leader says.

Lenny Pfeifer, longtime leader of Streamwood Cub Scout Pack 15, had for years distributed fliers to school students advertising troop events.

Pfeifer now has been told he can no longer distribute fliers to students.

District officials said they had a new policy.

"I could post one at the schools, but not hand it to the kids," Pfeifer said. "Honestly, how many first-graders do you know that will write down information off a wall?"

The policy, Pfeiffer said, is hurting his troop numbers.

"We have about 15 kids in our pack. The neighboring pack in town has, like, 60 kids. … They have no problem getting into schools."

U-46 attorney Pat Broncato said the district has spent the past eight months implementing the policy at the district's 40 elementary schools.

"It's really a guideline on fliers," Broncato said. Only information coming from the school's parent-teacher organization, from a student's teacher or from local municipalities can be sent home via backpack, Broncato said.

U-46 officials, Broncato said, "are trying our best to be consistent with this. Sometimes, there is some independent judgment that's utilized by school principals."

Last summer, the U-46 board proposed charging Scouts -- and other nonprofit groups -- rental fees for meeting at schools.

The rental schedule could have cost some troops as much as $4,000 annually, Scout leaders estimated.

After Scout leaders from across the district made impassioned pleas to the U-46 board, members voted to charge nonprofit groups just $10 to rent a U-46 classroom for two hours.

Previously, Scout troops had been treated like other school groups -- such as math or chess clubs -- that don't have to pay rent.

"It's just getting harder and harder to be a Scout in the district," Pfeifer said.

"It's a shame. ... Scouting teaches values that are going to be with these kids the rest of their lives."