Texas schools facing March 1st deadline to vote for on-campus chaplains

In one of the many new state laws passed by the Texas Legislature in Austin recently was Senate Bill 763. That would allow school districts or open-enrollment charter schools to decide whether or not they want chaplains to work within their schools. The new law requires all 1,200 districts across the state to vote yes or no by March 1st on the issue.

The chaplains would provide support, services and programs for students, as assigned by the board. That would mean that students could go seek religious advice, which has drawn concern from some Texans. However, the chaplains would be prohibited from imposing specific religious beliefs on students.

Either way, Jonathan Saenz of Texas Values says this is not a mandatory thing to have, and schools can decide what is best for them.

"They can decide on their own if it fits for their community...there are over 1,200 districts across Texas, and not all of them see this the same way," he says.

There would be fail safes in place too so that not just anyone can volunteer in the school. Whether they are employees or volunteers, they do not have to have State Board for Educator Certifications. But they will be subject to background checks and verifications they are not convicted of any crimes that require their registration as a sex offender.

Kids in public schools continue facing some stressful environments, from threats of shootings to basic bullying behavior. Having a chaplain there is not such a bad option.

"We continue to hear the outcries of the environment of public schools...and the stresses that the kids are under, particularly after COVID," he says.

Now, voting on this issue will likely shake out exactly as you would think. Mostly rural areas will vote yes, while most urban, more liberal districts will vote no. That excludes Dallas, where multiple suburban districts have voted in favor of the chaplain idea.

But, as with Houston ISD, there will always be the more liberal based districts who will refuse any sort of religion being involved in their school.

"They often times make money, and their existence is inflated or increased when they can get more public attention on their hate and anger toward all things religion," he says. "Which is disappointing that people will use this for political and anti-religious purposes."

In the end though, with all the drama unfolding at schools across the country, this is a good time to try new things, and look beyond political bias and agendas.

"Let's not be so hostile to religion in our state and communities...take a vote and see how it comes down...or take a vote, give it a shot for one year...then make a decision," says Saenz.

As of January 18th, at their most recent meeting, Houston ISD voted against the idea. Meanwhile, Katy ISD is still considering approval of it.