27-03-2025
House passes bill to allow chaplains in public schools
Rep. Barb Kniff McCulla, R-Pella, was the floor manager for a bill passed by the Iowa House March 26, 2025 allowing public schools to employ a chaplain or allow them to volunteer in providing services for students. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
House lawmakers sent a bill to the Senate Tuesday that would allow public and charter schools to hire chaplains or allow them to volunteer to provide 'support, services, and programs' for students.
The House passed House File 884 on a vote of 57-39. The measure would allow public school districts, charter schools and innovation school zones to hire or engage a chaplain to provide services for students. The bill contains language stating that a school cannot 'require or coerce a student to utilize' services or support from a chaplain and that chaplains cannot be used in lieu of a school counselor or guidance counselor.
Even so, multiple Democrats criticized the measure as an attempt to introduce religion into public schools.
Rep. Elinor Levin, D-Iowa City, said the bill represents 'a dangerous attempt to go around the separation of church and state.'
While supporters of the measure compared the measure with current chaplain positions allowed in the U.S. military and in hospitals, she said the considerations of religious services are very different when involving a child who has not necessarily requested to see a chaplain.
'We are talking about a bill that has no consideration for parental consent in having a child meet with a chaplain,' Levin said. 'We are talking about a bill that has no consideration for accreditation of a chaplain, training of a chaplain. We are talking about a bill that makes no prohibition on evangelizing within a school building.'
While a school's board of directors can decide to set qualifications, credentialing or other requirements for chaplains they hire or allow to volunteer, school districts cannot require chaplains to have an certification, authorization or recognition from the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners (BOEE) in order to be in a school, as is required for other school staff positions.
Democrats said the measure could lead to adults who are not properly vetted or trained to engage with children from being in schools in an official capacity as a chaplain. But Rep. Brooke Boden, R-Indianola, said the BOEE 'is not in the business of credentialing chaplains,' and that training and other requirements should be left to school districts' discretion.
'If a school wants to make sure that a chaplain is appropriately credentialed, it is their responsibility to make sure they're credentialed,' Boden said. 'That's local control. That's what we gave them in the bill.'
Rep. Helena Hayes, R-New Sharon, cited research by Dr. Lisa Miller, author of the book 'The Spiritual Child,' that found children and teenagers who have an active relationship with spirituality are less likely to abuse substances and face depression.
'Chaplains trained to provide spiritual and emotional care — they're uniquely positioned to apply the findings that I just shared in schools and assist us in fostering healthier, more resilient students and reducing destructive behavior,' Hayes said.
Levin argued that the data Hayes presented is not necessarily linked with the legislation, as only one state, Texas, currently has a law allowing for public schools to employ chaplains.
'This isn't something that has been done in many places,' Levin said. 'This is something that Iowa is considering, and we have to think about Iowans. And the spiritual needs of Iowa's kids should be met outside the school by decisions made by their parents and families.'
The bill's floor manager, Rep. Barb Kniff McCulla, R-Pella, said the legislation will help 'protect our youth and make them successful.'
'Every Iowa school in Iowa should have a chaplain, if that's what the school district decides on,' Kniff McCulla said. 'And the usage of chaplains is well documented for impacting lives in a positive direction.'
The bill moves to the Senate for further consideration.
