A proposal continued advancing Tuesday in the Senate to allow school districts to authorize chaplains to provide services for students. Under the bill (SB 1044), districts and charter schools could adopt policies to allow volunteer school chaplains “to provide supports, services and programs to students as assigned by the district school board or charter school governing board.”
Such policies would have to describe the services and programs and would require principals to inform parents of the availability. The Republican-controlled Senate Education Appropriations Committee voted 4-1 to approve the bill. The measure also would give parents the option to select a chaplain from lists supplied by school districts, with the lists including chaplains’ religious affiliations.
“Any school district that adopts a volunteer school chaplain policy shall publish the list of volunteer school chaplains, including any religious affiliation, on the school district’s website,” part of the bill said. Chaplains would be required to undergo background screenings required for “noninstructional” school employees and contractors.
Opponents of the bill have argued that chaplains should be required to undergo training exercises — a requirement that is not included in the bill. The proposal would need approval from the Senate Rules Committee before it could go to the full Senate. A similar House bill is ready for consideration by the full House.
–News Service of Florida
Deirdre says
Although students need as much support as possible, I can see this getting complicated. Will they bring in other religious leaders outside of Christianity? If a student is in crisis and speaks to a volunteer chaplain about their problems, what happens if they feel they’ve been ill advised (or someone else does), and end up hurting themselves or others? Is the school responsible in that case?
I bet if a student was counseled by a religious leader at school and ended up killing themselves (anything tragic or extreme), the school would get sued too.
Volunteer or not, if schools provided access to a person that does not have extensive training in psychiatry or counseling (which is what students need when they’re in crisis), the school will suffer the consequences as well.
Religion needs to be kept out of PUBLIC schools, if students want to seek guidance from a religious leader, they can go to church.
Another example; in the case of an accidental pregnancy, would a preacher advise the student to all their options, or just the ones they believe in? Would birth-control ever be mentioned, or is celibacy the only option in their book? Would they try to convert gay students to heterosexual behavior, and make them feel guilty or wrong for being honest about what they believe in?
Would they blame problems a kid is dealing with on evil or Satan? Would they try to convert students to their own belief system? Would atheist students be allowed to get this counseling? Would kids be let out of class whenever they say they need to talk to the preacher? Needless to say their counseling would be biased.
Public schools are (supposed to be) for everybody, if you’re going to open this door, lawmakers should be prepared to bring in religious leaders from every religious background. Would a cult leader be welcomed? Who decides?
I think if anyone feels it’s super important for their child to have religious counseling, why don’t they send them to a religious school? Sunday school? Aftercare programs at a church?
Obviously preachers are available outside of school, maybe a bus could be arranged for students to go to a church after school. Religious extremists have been taking books off the shelf, clearly more concerned with their personal beliefs than they are with education, is this really the road we want to walk down?
Deborah Coffey says
More indoctrination by the Christian Nationalists (Nazis). If people aren’t really scared of what is happening in America, and Florida in particular, then what happened in Germany under Hitler will happen here. It has already begun. The Nazis are half-way there….
Skibum says
It makes complete sense to me for the FL gov and legislature to want to place chaplains in each school in the state. They are just as determined to further weaken the statewide laws around purchasing and possessing assault rifles, as demonstrated by the current bill in Tallahassee that would once again lower the age from 21 to 18 for such purchases. BTW, the age limit was RAISED to 21 years old in response to the 2018Parkland school massacre which killed 17 and injured 17 others. But no matter, the tougher law was all for show and they want it gone now. So yes, our “fearless leaders” now are moving to put chaplains in all of the schools. And if you think about why would they be proposing this, well, the next time there is a school massacre here in FL caused by our elected officials’ total failure to do anything substantive, the school’s chaplain will be right there to give immediate “thoughts and prayers” to the grieving survivors and family members of the dead. Wow, what leadership we have here in the gunshine state of Florida!
Nephew Of Uncle Sam says
There’s a reason we don’t have a “national religion”, the framers of our country knew it would be a detriment. Keep your holy ghosts in your house and place of worship, they don’t belong in Public Schools.
Laurel says
Republican politicians are rapidly steamrolling over our lives. They gotta go.
Angela says
What happened to the split between church and state? My parents paid money and they had to plan to spend on my Christian education. I am 55 years old.
Now anyone who is deemed a pastor and is accepted by the police and politicians can talk with our students. Our students today are in greater need of individual support and feel the most distant from other people than at any time in history.
We need REAL METAL HEALTHCARE solutions not a blurred line between church and state.
Deborah Coffey says
And, you left out sexual abuse….
Deborah Coffey says
Amen!
R.S. says
I suppose that atheists or non-theist Buddhists need not apply???? What ever happened to counselors in schools?
Pierre Tristam says
The counselors are much too secular, professional, humane and in touch with their students for the legislature’s taste. We need good old Deuteronomy-thumpers who have no clue to right the balance. .
Bryan says
Maybe counselors already ruined it by stepping too far…..and what on earth is, please forgive my uneducated self, Deuteronomy-thumpers? A secret, or insulting way to say bible thumper? Please…..
Pierre Tristam says
I’m glad you find Deuteronomy insulting (at least to decency). The inhumanity in that book is limitless. If you have documentation of a chronic problem involving counselors who step too far–say, on the scale of frocked freaks abusing kids–feel free to provide.