Security/Real Life/Hidden costs

I guess I've almost calmed down about security issues but I think that most people are blind to the implications of they way they do things. Security is one thing. The schools have put in measures almost by reflex because everyone is doing something similar. They don't seem to have thought through the implications of what this means for the community as a whole. The kids are locked up but the community that supports the school and the kids are locked OUT and in many ways alienated from the whole process. This is fine, I guess, until the school taxes go up and lots of people scream. Usually the kids parents are supporters of the school costs but these measures are eroding the support of even those adults by excluding them too. It's all subtle but the school board will be amazed one day when the populace refuses to vote more money.

Girl Scouts has a similar thing going. The council doesn't like to see cash balances carried over from year to year in troop bank accounts. This is realistic, They want the money spent on the girls who worked for it as most of the money in those accounts are proceeds from fund raisers. There is no guarantee that the girls will stay from year to year so most of the money ought to be spent in the year it was earned. One thing that Council suggests, almost reccommends, is that the money in the troop accounts be used to re register the girls for the next year of scouting. Now this is quite convenient. The bulk of the funds come into the accounts about the time that meetings are winding down for the year and registrations are due. It can be a lot easier to just write one check from the tropp account rather than collect checks from each family. On the other hand, when the whole registration process is so removed from the parents they do not get an opportunity to "buy in" and demonstrate their support for the troop. I prefer to collect the annual registration fees from the parents and let the troop funds pay for more of the trips and things that dues would cover. This way I spend the money on the girls but the parents have an annual opportunity to be included in an important way. They like not needing to supply more money for troop dues.

As you might guess, its a heavy Girl scout time. Service unit registrations are on my table to be given out next Monday. With any luck I'll get most of them back by the end of June but we know that the rest will trickle in all year. My girls are into lots of trips and prigrams at the moment. Teddy Bear Tea with the Manners try-it was yesterdays event. Next week we team up with a Daisy troop to do bridgeing activities. The My Body try-it is the focus. Then a last Cookie booth sale at Earth Day Celebrations. Keeping track is tough.

Aikido is undergoing schedule changes. The morning attendees have dwindled to the point that the classes are going on hiatus. I still have an early morning Tai chi class on Tuesday but will need to find some other excuse to get up early on another day. There is talk of adding a class or 2 to the evening schedule. So I may not lose out on total hours per week.