Meeting Public Comments

Teresa Wellmam

Please OPPOSE HF 884. I am wholly opposed to introducing chaplains of ANY religion into public schools. Unless a chaplain is a degreed social science professional, sociologist or psychologist, they are not qualified to provide any sort of guidance to students. Any services a chaplain can provide should be done at church, not at a public school. There are plenty of qualified individuals to provide the appropriate services to our students without injecting religion. Stop trying to indoctrinate our students!

Stacy Volmer

I strongly oppose House File 884, which allows public schools, charter schools, and innovation zone schools to employ or engage chaplainspaid or volunteerwithout requiring licensure, endorsement, or certification. This bill poses multiple risks to students and public education.Undermines Professional Standards School counselors and social workers undergo rigorous training in child development, mental health, and crisis intervention. Allowing unlicensed chaplains to provide student support creates a dangerous gap in qualifications, leaving children vulnerable to unregulated guidance.Threatens Religious Neutrality in Public Schools Public schools serve students of all faiths and backgrounds. Introducing chaplainswho inherently represent religious institutionsblurs the line between church and state and could lead to religious coercion, exclusion, or bias, whether intentional or not.Fails to Address Real Student Needs If schools lack sufficient student support services, the solution is to fund more licensed mental health professionals, counselors, social workers, and school psychologists, not introduce religious figures who may lack training in evidencebased practices. Students deserve professional, secular, and traumainformed support, not unregulated spiritual counseling.Creates Accountability and Oversight Concerns Unlike licensed counselors, chaplains would not be held to statemandated ethical and professional standards. Without clear oversight, this bill risks exposing students to inappropriate, biased, or even harmful guidance with little recourse for families.HF 884 is an illconceived proposal that prioritizes religious influence over student wellbeing, professional expertise, and constitutional protections. I urge you to reject this bill and instead invest in expanding access to qualified school counselors and mental health professionals.

Lisa Martincik

I strongly oppose HF 884. Firstly, inserting religion into nonreligious schools is uncalled for, and contrary to the spirit of separation of church and state. Im guessing in practice it would also favor one religion over others. More importantly, chaplains may or may not be trained in many things, but they are not school counselors and the potential for harm is great. Unvetted, untrained, and unsuitable what is the point of this bill? Its an offense to trained counselors and other school personnel who take their positions seriously, an offense and danger to children, and an offense to parents and guardians. Please spend your time on more needful things like making sure students have food.

Eric Sadler

Please Please Please listen to the majority of iowans. No chaplains in schools. The amount of problems from this is enormous.

Rebekah Jacobs

Chaplains, Monks, Rabbis, Priests, Pastors, Vicars, Bishops, etc. It does not matter their title; they do not belong in Public Schools. Religion shouldn't be publicly funded.

Larissa Boeck

Please vote NO on HF884. There are numerous problems with HF884, including:HF884 explicitly states chaplains are NOT required to have a license, endorsement, certification, authorization or statement of recognition from the board of educational examiners required for any other professional working with children and youth in public schools. This is a dangerous precedent to set for anyone working with children and youth in a school setting.An untrained, noncertified chaplain might impose their religious beliefs on children including their religion, LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights, and more. Freedom of and from religion in a public school setting means that all parents not government officials have the right to direct their childrens religious education, development, and personal beliefs. The Iowans that you represent do not want this bill.

Anne Volker [self]

Oppose this bill. Vigorously. What a dangerous idea to even consider and an absolute outrage to think "chaplains" have any place in public schools.

DJ Hassel

No to this bill. No business would hire an employee without certification or at the very least adequate training for their job and then go on to allow them to work with no supervision whatsoever. This bill does just that.A vulnerable child may not be able to say no to an adult who recommends counseling. A child may have no idea how their parents feel about said counseling. This is a bad bill. We can do better by our kids.

Dianne Prichard

Please vote against HF884. I am a teacher (thirty three years) and a pastor (twenty years) and this bill has the potential to cause more harm than good to our students,Chaplains are great, BUT they dont belong in schools. They belong at dinner tables, invited by parents. They belong in youth activities affiliated with the denomination of the chaplain. They belong at school board meetings to listen. They belong at basketball games and choir concerts to support, They do not belong on the staff of a public school. They belong in Sunday School classes and worship services.Will these chaplains trained in child development ? mental health practices? Will they they be alowed proselytize, preach, judge or advise? HF884 has no requirements for professional competence, licensing or certification, and no restrictions on the personal agendas of the chaplain.I might as well mention, the position attracts pedophiles like no other profession, Catholic, Protestant or other. A chaplain is in the perfect position to groom and corrupt and abuse youth, and they are clever, because they know they are protected by the crosses hanging from the chains around their necks. They sometimes groom the parents first.Furthermore, having a chaplain in the school can divide students into chaplain groupies and others. This invites shaming and bullying, because, unfortunately, people who affiliate religiously quickly fall into the trap of Im better, youre going to hell.Again, if religious counsel is important to students and parents, then they need to be able to find it in appropriate places, School is not appropriate. School is neutral territory and chaplains, by their calling, are not neutral. They are called to proclaim the Gospel and they cant help throwing in their own dogma when they proclaim the gospel.I taught for 33 years and only once did I invoke any higher power. That was the morning after our beloved principal died unexpectedly. I knew that many of my students had been confirmed or baptized, so they would be familiar with the genre of prayer. I knew that they were traumatized and that sitting quietly with eyes closed, whether they listened or not, was healing.Religious caregivers have plenty of places to share their counsel. There are buildings dedicated exclusively to the work of religious work. We call them churches. There are acres of outdoors dedicated to religious work. We call them church camps. There are vacation opportunities dedicated to religious work. We all them mission trips. There are private places dedicated to religious work. We call them homes.

Shantel Lopez

Please say NO to HF 884. I am wholly opposed to introducing chaplains of ANY religion into public schools. Unless a chaplain is a degreed social science professional, sociologist or psychologist, they are not qualified to provide any sort of guidance to students. Any services a chaplain can provide should be done at church, not at a public school. There are plenty of qualified individuals to provide the appropriate services to our students without injecting religion. Stop trying to indoctrinate our students! (Agreed with this comment and had to copy). Now to piggyback on her comment, I really do wish you guys would stop looking for money and start caring more for children who need free lunches!! Which they deserve because they are CHILDREN who are not in control! You should be ashamed of yourselves for pushing this religion agenda. What happened to religious freedom?

Vanessa Renaud

Please vote No. Chaplains are unnecessary in public education. Especially unqualified unlicensed chaplains. Public schools need qualified counselors and social workers assisting children with mental health and counseling needs. It is dangerous for any volunteer to counsel our public school children. Vote no.

Kathleen Bills

Vote no on this bill. Remember separation of church and state.

Patricia Geadelmann [Self]

I strongly oppose this bill as a person with a masters of divinity degree and a doctorate in education. We require teachers and counselors to be trained for the safety of those who will be served, that includes those who provide spiritual direction. Those without recognized abd approved training and education should not be hired. Further, there are significant issues and dangers regarding the imposition of religios values in a public education school.

Mariah Buckner

Vote No on this bill. Families can take their own children to their chosen house of worship to receive spiritual guidance. Any assistance or guidance at school should be secular in nature and given by a credentialed counselor. Why would we want a random street preacher to have access to our kids? If families want their children to get a dash of religious perspective with their schooling, they should avail themselves of the ESA program.