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Chaplains could soon be coming to Florida’s public schools

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On July 1, school districts in Florida can authorize volunteer chaplains — those who are religious or not and without training — to provide support and services to students in public schools, although Republican Party-controlled legislatures across the country are rejecting similar proposals.

Last year, Texas passed a first-of-its-kind law allowing schools to pay for religious figures to work in the mental health field, and lawmakers in 15 states followed suit with similar legislation.

Since then, Florida is the only state where the legislature has passed the measure and Governor Ron DeSantis has signed the bill (HB 931), although Louisiana, Oklahoma and Ohio could still pass their versions this year.

Lawmakers’ proposals to bring chaplains to public schools have varied, with states taking different paths regarding the requirements people must meet to serve as school chaplains and their purpose.

School chaplain measures fell short this year in Alabama, Nebraska, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Utah, Missouri and Pennsylvania, according to an analysis of Florida Phoenix chaplain bills.

Florida’s legislature is controlled by Republicans, but some Democrats supported the move. So starting July 1, public school districts can decide whether to adopt a voluntary chaplain program, and parents must provide written consent before their children participate. But there is nothing in the law that requires chaplains to have a specific degree. These requirements are up to the school districts.

There is already controversy

HB 931 is already causing controversy between DeSantis and the Satanic Temple. When DeSantis signed the bill in April, he said Satanists would not be eligible to become chaplains. His comments came after representatives of the Satanic Temple, which claims recognition by the IRS as a church, expressed the group’s intention to sign up members to become volunteer chaplains.

The Florida bill does not specify what religion chaplains must practice. In fact, volunteer chaplains are not even required to have a religious affiliation. However, language in the bill states that “any school district or charter school that has a volunteer school chaplain policy must post the list of volunteer school chaplains, including any religious affiliation, on the school district or charter school website.”

How big of an impact HB 931 will have on Florida’s public schools remains to be seen, as school districts are not required to hold a public vote on the issue, while Texas required its school districts to do so.

Still, Holly Hollman, general counsel for the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, says Florida school leaders could also look to their counterparts in Texas for how they handled the issue. Only one charter school in Texas had hired chaplains as of April, according to The Texas Tribune, a partner of States Newsroom.

“As a growing number of chaplains speak out, school districts will realize that these proposals are not simply support for students, but are in fact deeply problematic,” Hollman said in a telephone interview with Florida Phoenix. “Most importantly, school districts will think about what they need and how they can support students, and when they look closer, they will see that this is clearly outside the mandate of public schools.”

Utah says no to Satanists

The threat that members of the Satanic Temple would serve as chaplains in public schools was enough Utah Republicans will reject the proposal this year. On the final day of Utah’s Republican Party-controlled legislative session, the state bill failed on a narrow 16-12 vote.

During the Senate debate, several GOP lawmakers who voted against the bill said it would leave the door too wide open for people to serve as chaplains, and Salt Lake County Republican Lincoln Fillmore said the agency would would regret passing the bill after seeing the results.

“In the current culture that exists in public schools, appointing chaplains would make things worse rather than better because we would not be able to discriminate, and so any religion that wanted to put a chaplain there would be able to do this,” Fillmore said in a telephone interview with the Phoenix. “So as you see in Florida, that includes the Church of Satan wanting to put chaplains there. We had chaplains in ours testifying in favor of the bill and the Satanic Church were all in favor of it.”

“I know there are concerns on the right. It’s a valid concern,” he said. “It’s based on experiences and the actual events that schools are trying to broaden and teach and influence things beyond math, science and history. So be very aware of what chaplains are actually doing in schools.”

Indiana refuses to hire chaplains as counselors

Even though the Texas school chaplain bill stated that they would be hired in mental health positions, lawmakers who introduced proposals in other states were not as open in that intent, including in Florida. During committee hearings and floor debates on the bill, Republican Sen. Erin Grall, a sponsor of the bill, said a voluntary chaplain program could be seen as an alternative to school counselors for some families.

But in Indiana, Republican Sen. Stacey Donato supported the idea of ​​chaplains serving as counselors. Her proposal would have allowed public schools to hire chaplains to provide secular guidance to students and school employees. Among the requirements, chaplains had to have a master’s degree in a field related to religion and two years of counseling experience.

Despite the Republican Party controlling both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly, Donato’s effort was unsuccessful this year. According to States Newsroom’s Indiana Capital Chronicle, lawmakers have removed language allowing chaplains to work as counselors from another proposal that would require schools to grant parents’ requests that their students be allowed to leave classes to attend religious education.

Alabama Democrats are taking the lead

Most Democrats in state legislatures have opposed the school chaplain bill, claiming it would bring religion into public schools and allow unlicensed people to deal with students’ mental health issues.

Still, Rodger Smitherman, a Democrat from Birmingham, Alabama, insisted that his plan to bring chaplains to public schools was not an attempt to replace counselors. Although the legislation faced no opposition in the Senate, Smitherman agreed to a House amendment on May 1 that significantly changed his bill, according to States Newsroom’s Alabama Reflector.

Originally, Smitherman’s proposal allowed schools to hire or accept chaplains as volunteers to provide support and services if they passed a background check and completed an accredited chaplain training program. After the change, chaplains can only serve as volunteers to support teachers at their request, and school boards will no longer have to vote on whether to implement the program.

“We do this work for the safety of our teachers,” Democratic Rep. TaShina Morris said during the committee hearing. “And if they need someone to talk to, we need to give them that access.”

By the time Sine Die came around Thursday evening, however, the legislature had not yet voted on the bill.

Oklahoma’s resurrected bill

After four school chaplain bills failed to even get a hearing in the Oklahoma Legislature, a Republican lawmaker decided to revive a defeated 2023 bill to advance efforts to bring chaplains to public schools in that state, according to Oklahoma Voice of States Newsroom.

Moore County Rep.’s maneuver Kevin West cleared the House on a 54-37 vote, with 20 Republicans voting against. The Senate has not yet voted on the bill, but amendments in the House of Representatives have tightened requirements for volunteer or salaried school chaplains, according to Oklahoma Voice.

The bill stipulates that school chaplains may not attempt to convert anyone to their religion and must obtain the approval of their faith group. In addition, they must have a bachelor’s and master’s degree in theology or religious studies.

Florida Phoenix is ​​part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. If you have any questions, please contact editor Diane Rado: [email protected]. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Tweet.

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