by Rebecca Gaunt
A Republican-backed bill in the Georgia senate would allow faith-based chaplains to work alongside or in lieu of school counselors in public schools.
State Sen. Marty Harbin (R-Tyrone) authored the bill. State Sen. John Albers (R-Roswell), whose district includes part of Cobb County, is a co-sponsor.
Georgia Senate Bill 379 authorizes public school systems to “employ or accept as a volunteer a school chaplain to provide support, services, and programs for students…a school chaplain employed or accepted as a volunteer under this subsection is not required to be a certificated professional personnel.”
Similar bills have been introduced in Texas, Florida, Iowa, and Indiana.
In addition to concerns raised by critics about religious proselytizing in schools, the lack of requirements for certification or training have rankled those in the counseling profession.
“The job of a school counselor is to remove barriers to student learning,” Jennifer Susko, a school counselor, told the Courier. “While many know that we do this through individual and group counseling services based on need, not everyone is aware of our other two domains–academic planning and college and career preparation. While a chaplain may be able to do some level of counseling with students sharing their faith, school counselors are uniquely trained in implementing services that a chaplain simply could not.”
Susko described several examples of the academic aspects of counseling.
“In 9th grade, we create and deliver transition programs to all students to help ease their transition from middle school. This includes teaching classroom lessons to ensure they all know how to calculate their GPA, read a transcript and access academic support should their grades begin to drop. Since 9th grade is a pivotal year in drop out prevention, we continually analyze achievement data and design interventions to support any student who fails a class,” she said.
Other responsibilities include meeting with high school juniors to discuss pathways and make sure they are on track for graduation, assisting with college applications, scholarships, and filling out the FAFSA, writing letters of recommendation, and helping students develop anxiety management skills.
“And that’s just high school,” she said. “At every level–elementary and middle school as well–school counselors alone employ the unique skill set requiring a Master’s Degree to deliver a data-driven, comprehensive school counseling program to meet all students’ academic, social/emotional and college and career domains.”
The Georgia School Counselor Association, which has about 1,200 members, has come out against the bill.
President Jennifer Diaz told the Courier, “We have students of every culture and religion that exists on the planet…we would have to have a Jewish rabbi, Hindu leaders, Muslim leaders. We have to provide for every child.”
Diaz also pointed out the specific training counselors undergo for their profession, including for mental health. They also need the academic knowledge to help students figure out the pathway that will best lead them to graduation.
“[Chaplains] wouldn’t have that training and they wouldn’t know what to do. Meanwhile, kids are going to be floundering and not getting the credits they need,” she said.
Tracey Nance, an education advocate and the 2020-2021 Georgia Teacher of the Year, went to the Gold Dome last week to testify when the bill was scheduled for a hearing by the Education and Youth Senate Committee. The committee ran out of time and did not get to the bill that day, but Nance shared her comments with the Courier.
“I have no problem with a Chaplain becoming a School Counselor, i.e., if they receive the proper student-focused training and Counseling certification currently required of School Counseling by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission,” she said.
Her concerns are similar to Susko and Diaz, and she also addressed the potential legal ramifications.
“Courts have consistently ruled against the promotion of religious activities in public schools, because parents have a right to determine if and from what type of faith-based framework their children are counseled,” Nance said. “Just last year, Sen. Setzler filed a bill that would extend federal protections passed in 1993 to the state and local level, that would ‘protect religious Georgians from unfair government intrusion.’ This is true for children in public schools whose parents do not want specific faith-based guidance for their children.”
The committee met again Tuesday but SB 379 was not included on the agenda.
Neither Harbin nor Albers responded to questions about reaction to the bill.
Rebecca Gaunt earned a degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in education from Oglethorpe University. After teaching elementary school for several years, she returned to writing. She lives in Marietta with her husband, son, two cats, and a dog. In her spare time, she loves to read, binge Netflix and travel.
