GISD board approves chaplain hiring, volunteering resolution News Staff Fri, 02/16/2024 - 9:33 am
- (THOMAS WALLNER | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Superintendent Sonny Cruse speaks with the Graham ISD Board of Trustees during their meeting Wednesday, Feb. 14. The board approved a resolution which would allow the district to utilize chaplains to provide support, services and programs for students, as assigned by the GISD Board of Trustees and overseen by the superintendent.
Thomas Wallner editor@grahamleader.com
Graham ISD adopted a resolution this week which would allow the district to utilize chaplains to provide support, services and programs for students, as assigned by the GISD Board of Trustees and overseen by the superintendent.
The resolution stems from Senate Bill 763, passed in the 88th Legislature. The bill requires school boards to take a record vote by Friday, March 1 on whether or not to adopt a policy authorizing the district to employ, or accept as a volunteer, a chaplain.
The resolution adopted by the board was drafted by GISD’s legal counsel and accepts chaplains as both volunteers and employees to provide support, services and programs to better the students of the district.
“(Texas Association of School Boards) put out a working document to work through that. I also reached out to our attorney,” Superintendent Sonny Cruse said. “The resolution that I’m recommending was prepared by our attorney because it’s a little more stringent and would let us define the roles, if we were ever to use a chaplain at all, what those roles would be. …This resolution protects the district and gives us the flexibility to do so if we need to.”
Chaplains that are employed or volunteer in the district are required to undergo a full background check before beginning their work. The resolution states that the board designated Cruse to oversee and assign the authority to determine the assignment of chaplains.
Under SB 763, a school district in the state may employ a chaplain instead of a school counselor to perform the same duties. Cruse said he does not foresee the district using chaplains in this way.
“I personally don’t see us using one as a school counselor,” he said. “I could see (us using) some in crisis situations, or something like that, but I don’t believe they are qualified as a school counselor.”
The law, which is included in Texas Education Code, states that chaplains are not required to be certified through the State Board of Educator Certification, which oversees all aspects of the preparation, certification, and standards of conduct of public school educators.
Under the law, a chaplain cannot have been convicted or placed on deferred adjudication community supervision for an offense for which they have to register as a sex offender.
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