School districts would be allowed to employ chaplains or have volunteer chaplains under a bill passed out of an Iowa House subcommittee Tuesday.
Chaplains working at the school would still have to go through the same background checks as other employees, but wouldn’t be required to have any type of certification from the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners. The bill also says schools would be prohibited from requiring students to see a chaplain.
A.J. Potter, a chaplain with the Iowa State Patrol and Marion County Sheriff’s Office, supports the proposal.
“As a chaplain, one of the things that we know, as we interact with law enforcement — but it's not just law enforcement — we're with them as they're in homes and we're dealing with children at the same time. We understand that we're not there to proselytize. We're there to help in a moment of crisis.”
Opponents of the bill say the lack of requirements for chaplains could endanger students and that there needs to be more language in the bill stipulating what chaplains can and can’t do, such as work that’s already covered by licensed social workers.