GSCA Call to Action Senate Bill 379 “School Chaplains Act”
Senator Harbin of the 16th district (Fayette, Spalding, Lamar, and Pike Counties) has introduced a bill (SB379) that will allow Chaplains “to volunteer or be employed in schools in the role of school counselors without training or certification.” Georgia School Counselor Association is not in support of this bill.
It’s important for you to contact members of the Senate Education and Youth Committee to share your opposition to this bill. The bill was on the committee agenda for February 9, but the introduction of it was delayed to possibly Tuesday, February 13 or later. This call to action is time sensitive.
Talking points:
- School Counselors are Master's level certified educators with advanced training
- We run comprehensive developmentally appropriate counseling programs, which are multi-tiered systems of support that serve students in the academic, career, and social/emotional domain
- At this time, there is no critical shortage of school counselors and our higher education institutions are training more than enough school counselors for the state to fill the need
- School Counselors work with ALL students, but are often the ONLY mental health professional that students ever see.
- The current youth mental health crisis is leading to increased rates of anxiety, depression, suicidality, etc. School counselors have specific mental health training to help support these students.
- Chaplains are wonderful and very helpful people, however, they are not trained or certified to work the mental health issues that our students bring into our buildings
- School counselors address academic and career needs of students. Chaplains are not trained to address these needs.
- Faith-based professionals are valued members of many communities but they are not appropriate in the of role of professional school counselor, and no one is appropriate in the role without the requisite training, degree, and certification or licensure requirements of their state.
- The members and contact information of the Senate Education and Youth Committee are:
Georgia General Assembly -Senate Committee on Education and Youth (ga.gov)
Senator Clint Dixon, Chairman
Senator Chuck Payne
Senator Freddie Powell Sims
Senator Matt Brass
Senator Greg Dolezal
Senator Steve Gooch
Senator Sonya Halpern
Senator Donzella James
Senator Elena Parent
Senator Ed Setzler
Senator Shawn Still
Senator Horacena Tate
Call to Action Reminders
Letter (no chain emails or letters)
E-Mail (on personal time, not from district email address)
Phone Call (staffers are on hand to relay your message)
Mention the bill name and number (SB 379) and say you are in opposition to the bill and explain why. Use the talking points.
For questions about the bill, please contact Gail Smith