ECISD Trustees To Discuss Allowing Unlicensed Religious Chaplains In Edinburg Schools

Edinburg, Texas, Sept. 12, 2023 — Edinburg CISD Trustees will consider a resolution and take a recorded vote on whether to allow unlicensed chaplains to provide counseling services to students on campus.

As required by Senate Bill 763, the Board will take the vote during today’s meeting. The Board will hold its regular meeting tonight starting at 6 pm at the Board Meeting Room at 6 pm at 411 N. 8th Street, Edinburg. 

The item is listed as: “Discussion of resolution and take record vote as required by Senate Bill 763 on Whether to adopt a policy authorizing a campus to employ chaplains or accept chaplains as volunteers to provide support, services, and programs for students as assigned by the Board.”

According to the law, unlicensed religious chaplains would be allowed to work in Texas public schools under the bill passed by the Texas Legislature earlier this year and signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott.

Senate Bill 763 allows Texas schools to use safety funds to pay for unlicensed chaplains to work in mental health roles. Volunteer chaplains will also be allowed in schools. The law does not require any specific education, training, certification or licensing for these counselors. Other counselors, including school counselors, must have at least a master’s degree, a 700 hour practicum and pass a state exam. Other licensed counselors often have to meet even more stringent requirements.

While districts are not required to accept these unlicensed counselors, all public school district boards are required to vote on the matter. However, if a board were to approve the use of such unlicensed chaplains, the board can set whatever rules and requirements they want.

Opponents of the bill have charged that this could deepen the state’s youth mental health crisis by providing students with unproven, lightly supervised and nonscientific counseling that treats common childhood problems, such as anxiety, as “sins” or issues that can merely be prayed away. Others have voiced concerns that these chaplains would try to proselytize to children.

In other business, the Board will hear a presentation on the district’s 2022 – 2023 Texas Assessment Program Results. The Texas Assessment Program is a statewide testing program that includes the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR^®), STAAR Alternate 2, the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS), and TELPAS Alternate. The Texas Assessment Program is designed to measure the extent to which a student has learned and is able to apply the defined knowledge and skills at each tested grade or the extent to which a student has developed English language proficiency. These required assessments were created to fulfill both federal and state requirements.

In personnel matters, the Board will consider hiring the following staff:

a Systems and Web Programmer(s) for the Technology Department 

a Counselor for Harwell Middle School 

a Curriculum Assistant for Ramirez Elementary 

a Curriculum Assistant for Guerra Elementary 

an Assistant Principal for Avila Elementary 

an Assistant Principal for Harwell Middle School 

a District Math Specialist for the Federal Programs Department, and,

an Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations for Administration 

The Board may also consider taking action regarding a Level III Employee Grievance Hearing for Ruben Arce.