BILLINGS – The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) announced a name change this week as it moves toward allowing girls into the program.
The new name of the organization will be Scouts BSA.
The organization wants to hold on to BSA and Boy Scouts of America, according to Don Bean, scout executive for the Montana Council of the BSA.
In Montana, the decision to form girls’ troops will be up to the organizations that sponsor the Boy Scout programs, according to Bean.
“Some have across the board have said no, we’re going to stay with boys,” Bean said. “The Church of Latter Day Saints, which is our largest sponsoring organization, has decided that. But I would say the majority of the others have decided to go with boy troops and girl troops. It’s not a co-ed program. It’s a troop of boys and a troop of girls. But the girls will have the same requirements to advance and to get badges.”
The biggest change is that girls will be allowed to join their own troops separate from the boy and earn all the awards including Eagle Scout.
The change came to allow families to have boys and girls in the same organization.
Bean said the Venturing and Exploring programs are co-ed and are for older children.
The Cub Scouts will also be co-ed.
The Boy Scouts also announced a new campaign called “Scout Me in” for its Cub Scout program.
The Cub Scouts will start accepting girls in the fall
The name change will take effect in February 2019, when girls can start joining Scouts, BSA.
Reporting by David Jay for MTN News
