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Somebody forgot to teach the Guilford County school board lesson No. 1 in civics class:

Don't mess with the Girl Scouts.

Consequently, when the board members convene for their next meeting, at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 30, they may be looking at a sea of green, brown and blue. And, it goes without saying, a lot of activity patches.

Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and Brownies are being asked to show their opposition to a pair of proposed changes that together could drastically reduce participation, Scout leaders argue. The changes?

First, troops that currently rent elementary school facilities for after-school meetings would have to wait until after 6 p.m. — a change that would prevent an estimated 600 Girl Scouts alone from meeting.

Second, Scouting organizations could no longer send information or reminders home from school in students' homework packets — a prime recruiting tool, especially for Cub Scouts and Brownies.

"It effectively puts the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts out of business," said Maurice Hull, president of the Old North State Council of Boy Scouts.

"If we can't send the information home with kids, we might as well not have the meetings, because no one will know about them."

The changes would also affect an array of other after-school enrichment groups, from Mad Scientist chemistry labs to Young Rembrandts of the Piedmont art studios, but none as large as the Scouts.

Apparently, the rule changes have been under discussion for months. School board attorney Jill Wilson told the News & Record in July that the use of elementary schools by outside groups before 6 p.m. — the hour in-house after-school programs let out — was a safety concern, though there have been no specific incidents cited.

As for the proposed rule against sending home fliers in homework packets, Scout leaders only learned of the idea when they delivered their brochures to schools this summer, and some principals told them they might not be able to distribute them.

Similar policies adopted in Davidson and Person counties have caused a "dramatic" decline in Scout membership, according to North State Executive Director John Meeks, and in one year in Wake County, Cub Scout enrollment fell by 25 percent.

"At a time when gang activity is the No. 1 public safety issue, this is not the time for the schools to be distancing themselves from partners like us," said Meeks, who met last week with 26 agencies serving 30,000 county youths who could be affected.

The school board is expected to vote on both proposals at next week's meeting at 712 N. Eugene St. in Greensboro.

A most unlucky number

Meanwhile, a story in this space last Wednesday about a bogus "Australian lottery" counterfeit check scheme that scammed an elderly Greensboro man for more than

$5,000 attracted the attention of the N.C. Attorney General's Office in Raleigh.

According to David Fox, telephone privacy project specialist with the Consumer Protection Office, the state trains community volunteers to work one-on-one with scam victims to help them spot and foil con artists.

"If this gentleman has sent money," Fox wrote, "we can assume that he continues to receive multiple calls per day and lots of letters in the mail in relation to similar scams." (Details? Call 919-716-6000 or visit http://noscamnc.gov.)

Reader Terry Wyrick, whose late father fell victim to such scam artists, expressed frustration that there has been no punishment for the perpetrators:

"What I find appalling is that there is really nothing much you can do about them. ... All you can do is report it. Nothing happens."

Contact Lorraine Ahearn at 373-7334 or lahearn@news-record.com