Welcome! This forum has a treasure trove of great info – Scouters helping Scouters! Just a heads up, though - all content, information, and opinions shared on this forum are those of the author, not the BSA.
I’ve heard a report that some units had their Scoutbook access revoked as of Dec 31, 2019, due to their charter renewals not yet being processed by that date. Yet I’ve also seen references to a 60-day grace period following charter expiration, which should allow Scoutbook access to continue while the council processes renewals.
Is this a glitch? A known issue? What’s the best route for a unit to take in getting this resolved? Apologies if this has been addressed elsewhere - I’m new to these forums.
My unit’s charter has not yet been processed by my council, and I haven’t had any interruption in access to Scoutbook. Are you having trouble getting access? If so, what is the error message/behavior you’re seeing?
Unfortunately I wasn’t told if there was a error message, other than just not being able to sign on. But your experience would seem to confirm the general existence of a grace period.
The primary reason this year for rechartering delays appears to be unit leaders not submitting the new background check authorization form and the time needed to run background checks.
If I remember correctly the old 60-day registration grace period was removed several years ago and was changed to a “two-month lapsed period”. I do know how this currently impacts Scoutbook access.
A new signed charter agreement should be obtained annually during a meeting between the executive officer of a chartered organization and he district professional, or in appropriate cases his or her designee, which should be scheduled at least 90 days prior to the renewal date of the unit’s charter. If problems in renewing the unit’s charter are anticipated or there is significant corrective action needed, the discussion should be held early enough to allow time to take positive corrective action before the renewal deadline.
Lapsed unit. A lapsed unit is a unit that has expired and not yet renewed but is still within the BSA’s two-month grace period.
Dropped unit. A dropped unit is a unit that is not currently registered and did not reregister within the two-month lapsed period after it expiration
We have not had any reports of units losing access to Scoutbook. The 60 day grace period applies to all units and allows Councils to have time to process the recharters.
