Groups are sounding the alarm about the ‘Papellinen in schools’ bill

FORT PIERCE, Fla. – A recently signed bill to place chaplains in public schools, sponsored by a Treasure Coast lawmaker, is raising concerns.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 931 this month, allowing public school districts to allow volunteer religious chaplains on campus to provide support services and programs for students.

It is now generating controversy from groups on both sides of the aisle over its impact on First Amendment rights and student safety.

“They’re going to do conversions in our schools,” said Sen. Lori Berman, D-Boynton Beach.

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Berman isn’t the only one raising alarms about the legislation, which was sponsored by Sen. Erin Grall, a Republican who represents Indian River, St. Lucie and Okeechobee counties.

In a letter, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida also condemned the bill as an “unconstitutional attempt to impose religion on public school students.”

Berman agreed, but said one of her biggest concerns is that the bill would not require training, certification or proof of religious affiliation for volunteer chaplains.

“All you have to do is a fingerprint check,” Berman said. “I’m afraid that these people will negatively affect our children psychologically, because who knows what kind of information they will tell the children? And their parents are not there.”

Berman also said she worried the bill would open the door to unvetted child predators.

“Someone who is a predator could say, ‘I’m a member of this church and I want to come in,’ and unfortunately get access to children,” Berman said.

Some conservative groups, such as Moms for Liberty of Indian River County (M4LIRC), have supported the bill as long as parents have a say in who their child speaks to.

“I think having more people to help kids will be a positive for us,” said M4LIRC spokeswoman Jennifer Pippin.

Now The Satanic Temple said they also want ministers on campus, and some people who originally supported the legislation are switching sides.

“That makes me think, maybe we should take it all out of the picture,” said Cheyenne Bingham, a conservative mother from Fort Pierce. “I know I’m just completely turned and inverted, but that way you know no matter what religion you are, you don’t have to worry about the influence of another religion.”

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DeSantis, in response to The Satanic Temple’s request to place ministers in schools, said at a news conference that he will not let that happen, telling reporters that the organization is “not a real religion.”

WPTV looked up the organization on the IRS website and found that it is a tax-exempt organization.

Lucien Greaves, co-founder and spokesperson for The Satanic Temple, said they plan to file a lawsuit if this is not allowed on school grounds, and released the following statement, which reads in part:

Berman said the temple has every right.

“We absolutely asked these questions to the sponsor of the bill, and she said nothing can be done to restrict any religion,” Berman said. “I am hopeful that Palm Beach County will not implement it because it is a voluntary program.”

WPTV has reached out to all five of our school districts to see if they would like to implement the chaplain program.

So far, only the Martin County School District has contacted us and said no final decision has been made on it.

A spokesperson told WPTV that if the board wishes, they will work with their legal counsel to see how this would work in county schools.

WPTV also contacted Grall multiple times and in various ways to address concerns about the bill, but she did not get back to us.