Decision polarizes parents

A controversial decision to allow chaplains to be hired or volunteer, providing services, support and programs for students in schools was struck down by Houston ISD Thursday evening.

A new law lets schools use safety funds to pay for unlicensed chaplains working in mental health roles. Supporters say it helps address student mental health while critics blast it as a Christian nationalist attempt to convert children to a specific form of faith.

Katy Independent School District’s Board of Trustees held a work-study meeting Monday night to discuss several topics, including whether to hire chaplains.

Opponents fear the bill is a “Trojan horse” for evangelizing kids and will worsen the state’s mental health crisis through disproven counseling approaches.

Senate Bill 763, authored by Galveston area State Senator Mayes Middleton, would allow school districts to hire or accept chaplain volunteers to “provide support, services, and programs for students as assigned by the board of trustees of the district.”

Rocky Malloy, a self-described former drug-smuggling pirate saved by divine intervention, has led a group that promotes chaplains as a tool to proselytize to schoolchildren.