A bill for an act authorizing school districts, charter schools, and innovation zone schools to employ chaplains, or engage volunteer chaplains, to provide services to students.(See HF 884 .)

House

File

334

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

334

BY

KNIFF

MCCULLA

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

authorizing

school

districts,

charter

schools,

and

1

innovation

zone

schools

to

employ

chaplains,

or

engage

2

volunteer

chaplains,

to

provide

services

to

students.

3

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

4

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H.F.

334

Section

1.

Section

256E.7,

subsection

1,

Code

2025,

is

1

amended

by

adding

the

following

new

paragraph:

2

NEW

PARAGRAPH

.

j.

Employ

chaplains,

or

engage

chaplains

to

3

serve

without

compensation

or

remuneration,

in

the

same

manner

4

as

a

school

district

under

section

279.87.

5

Sec.

2.

Section

256F.4,

Code

2025,

is

amended

by

adding

the

6

following

new

subsection:

7

NEW

SUBSECTION

.

9.

A

charter

school

or

innovation

zone

8

school

may

employ

chaplains,

or

engage

chaplains

to

serve

9

without

compensation

or

remuneration,

in

the

same

manner

as

a

10

school

district

under

section

279.87.

11

Sec.

3.

NEW

SECTION

.

279.87

School

chaplains.

12

1.

The

board

of

directors

of

a

school

district

may

employ

a

13

chaplain,

or

engage

a

chaplain

to

serve

without

compensation

or

14

remuneration,

to

provide

support,

services,

and

programs

for

15

students

as

assigned

by

the

board

of

directors

of

the

school

16

district.

17

2.

The

board

of

directors

of

a

school

district

shall

not

18

require

a

chaplain

employed

or

engaged

under

this

section

to

19

have

a

license,

endorsement,

certification,

authorization,

or

20

statement

of

recognition

issued

by

the

board

of

educational

21

examiners.

22

3.

The

procedure

for

background

investigations

and

23

termination

established

in

section

279.69

shall

apply

to

24

chaplains

employed

or

engaged

under

this

section.

25

4.

The

board

of

directors

of

a

school

district

shall

not

26

require

or

coerce

a

student

to

utilize

the

support,

services,

27

or

programs

provided

by

a

chaplain

who

is

employed

or

engaged

28

by

the

board

of

directors

of

the

school

district

pursuant

to

29

this

section.

30

EXPLANATION

31

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

32

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

33

This

bill

authorizes

school

districts,

charter

schools,

34

and

innovation

zone

schools

to

employ

chaplains,

or

engage

35

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H.F.

334

volunteer

chaplains,

to

provide

support,

services,

and

programs

1

for

students.

The

bill

provides

that

such

chaplains

are

2

not

required

to

have

a

license,

endorsement,

certification,

3

authorization,

or

statement

of

recognition

issued

by

the

board

4

of

educational

examiners.

The

bill

requires

school

districts,

5

charter

schools,

and

innovation

zone

schools

to

follow

the

6

background

investigation

and

termination

procedures

established

7

under

Code

section

279.69

when

employing

chaplains

or

engaging

8

volunteer

chaplains.

The

bill

prohibits

school

districts,

9

charter

schools,

and

innovation

zone

schools

from

requiring

10

or

coercing

a

student

to

utilize

the

support,

services,

or

11

programs

provided

by

a

chaplain.

12

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