Could Missouri public schools be allowed to hire chaplains or let them volunteer? That’s what a senate committee is considering after hearing a pair of bills introduced on Tuesday.
Sen. Rusty Black, R-Chillicothe, said being able to have a private conversation with a trusted confidant is different than talking to a school employee.
“I understand why some students wouldn’t want to talk to you cause I had reporting things that I had to do and I wrote those letters and had parents beating the hell out of my door because I wrote something and they had threatened the school and they were not very happy,” explained Black. “But for those of you that know how our system works, I’ve got an administrator in the room, I had no choice to do that, or I lost my job.”
Black is also a retired educator who worked at Grand River Technical School in Chillicothe.
Brian Kayler with the Christian non-profit “Word and Way” opposed the legislation because he said the bill does not include requirements for who can become a chaplain.
“Unlike all of the other examples that we’ve heard, the military for instance has a lot of qualifications,” Kayler said. “As you noted, not just the street preacher who’s yelling at you trying to proselytize cannot become a military chaplain. There are requirements. There’s actually nothing in this legislation that will prevent a school district from hiring that street preacher to come in and be the school chaplain.”
Timothy Faber, Legislative Liaison with the Missouri Baptist Convention, said that if the military, prisons, hospitals, and the State Capitol can have chaplains, so should schools.
“Remember, this is all voluntary on the part of the school and on the part of the students and staff,” said Faber. “No one is coerced into using the services of a chaplain. Coercion would certainly violate the establishment clause, but chaplains are allowed under the free exercise clause.”
Gwyneth Woodhouse opposed the bill, saying that faith should not impose itself on others in public institutions.
Under the bill, each district and charter school is to vote to adopt a policy allowing chaplains to volunteer or be hired.
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