The Boy Scouts of America surprised millions this week, including its own membership, with the decision to allow girls to earn the BSA’s highest rank, and include girls among its membership in its cub packs and wolf dens throughout the country.

While the groups were caught off-guard by the decision to add girls, which the BSA claims was prompted by popular demand, the reactions have been mixed to say the least.

Local leaders and media inquiries have been directed to the national office, leaving Santa Clarita groups, which have one of three options, to pretty much figure things out for themselves.

Some troop leaders, who said the move was one of two recent changes that caught scouts off-guard, might be connected to declining revenues the organization has had of late, which have been met with rising challenges and operational costs, according to the organization’s unaudited financials, available here, and recent media reports.

The potential problems have been compounded by an even more recent decision by one of the organization’s largest supporters, the Mormon church, which is withdrawing support.

Related story: Mormon church is pulling older teens from Boy Scouts’ programs

Locally, the groups are run, depending on the ages, by volunteer parents. For Cub Scouts, for example, there’s usually one or more “Cub Masters” that share responsibility for the group following the organization’s bylaws, the administering of fees and general program organization.

One Cub Master noted the fees recently were raised about $10 per person after much of the recruitment was done (the program generally runs around the academic school year), which also made the timing of the decision to go co-ed curious.

The consolidated financials indicate the Boy Scouts of America steadily grew its assets after recovering from the Great Recession, until 2015, when it saw two consecutive years of declining net assets.

The reasoning given for the policy change by the BSA was that it sought to reach “as many families and youth as possible as we help shape the next generation of leaders.” Research apparently showed a large demand from families with girls, according to a BSA statement:

“This decision is true to the BSA’s mission and core values outlined in the Scout Oath and Law. The values of Scouting – trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind, brave and reverent, for example – are important for both young men and women,” said Michael Surbaugh, the BSA’s Chief Scout Executive. “We believe it is critical to evolve how our programs meet the needs of families interested in positive and lifelong experiences for their children. We strive to bring what our organization does best – developing character and leadership for young people – to as many families and youth as possible as we help shape the next generation of leaders.”

(The Boy Scouts of America’s full statement can be viewed here.)

But there has also been speculation the move was prompted by the waning support from community organizations, such as churches.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has been the BSA’s largest supporter with more than 300,000 members through its partnership, announced this week that in January it would be encouraging its members to take part in the church’s programs instead.

The move followed the Southern Baptist Church’s resolution in 2014, that sought to “encourage churches that choose to sever ties with the Boy Scouts not to abandon their ministry to boys but consider expanding their Royal Ambassadors ministry, a distinctively Southern Baptist missions organization to develop godly young men.”

Arif Halaby, a long-time local supporter of the scouts who started the organization’s local annual Leaders of Characters fundraiser more than 10 years, disagreed with the decision.

He had two sons who were Eagle Scouts, and a daughter who achieved the highest scouting awards given by BSA to girls through the scouts’ Venturing Program, which has been co-ed for decades, he said.

“I’m not a fan of this decision, because I think there needs to be places where boys and girls can be themselves,” Halaby said, “and I think in today’s politically correct environment, that’s becoming harder and harder to find.”

For Castaic-area Pack No. 580, the group met this week just to seek answers for how to proceed with their group locally, in light of the recent policy changes.

The groups were given three options, according to Tom Nobili, Cub Master for the Castaic pack.

The group met Tuesday as part of an informal discussion, he said, so there was a general understanding of what the group thought the best course of action would be, and how to address questions from other parents.

The three options were: a) continue as is, and not allow girls; b) accept girl dens, under the same pack, but in different “dens”; (in any scenario, the groups would gender-separate; i.e. a girls and boys “tigers” and “wolves,” which are different scouting levels); or c) create a separate pack altogether.

The confusion and suddenness of the plan’s rollout prompted the group to adopt a “wait-and-see” approach, he said.

“If a girl would like to join, there wouldn’t be a problem with that, but under the current structure we’re given, there would also need to be a parent willing to oversee and administer the program,” he said, “because it would have to be separate from our existing den of male Cub Scouts.”

The move drew ire from the Girl Scouts of America, which reportedly sought to dissuade the Boy Scouts of America leadership from the move for a number of reasons, according to an AP report.

A response posted on the site’s website noted: “Girl Scouts Is the Girl Leadership Expert”:

“Girl Scouts is the best girl leadership organization in the world, created with and for girls. We believe strongly in the importance of the all-girl, girl-led, and girl-friendly environment that Girl Scouts provides, which creates a free space for girls to learn and thrive.

The benefit of the single-gender environment has been well-documented by educators, scholars, other girl- and youth-serving organizations, and Girl Scouts and their families. Girl Scouts offers a one-of-a-kind experience for girls with a program tailored specifically to their unique developmental needs.”

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