DENTON, Tex. — The Cedar Hollow Independent School District on Tuesday became the first Texas district to formally implement Senate Bill 763, the 2023 law permitting volunteer chaplains to assume duties previously reserved for licensed school counselors. The board’s 5–2 vote authorized the superintendent to begin recruiting chaplains through local religious organizations this summer, for placement beginning in August.
Under the new policy, chaplains will be available during regular school hours to meet with students “who request spiritual support,” the district said, and may also address groups during lunch periods and, with parental consent, during elective time slots. The policy does not require chaplains to hold a counseling credential, a social-work license, or training in trauma response — three qualifications Texas requires of licensed school counselors.
Dissenting board members and a coalition of parents have objected to the program on two grounds: the substitution of religious figures for mental-health professionals, and the near-certainty that the volunteer pool, drawn from local congregations, will not represent the full range of religious and non-religious backgrounds present among the district’s students.
Who Qualifies as a Chaplain
The Texas law sets no statewide definition of “chaplain.” Districts are left to adopt their own standards; Cedar Hollow’s policy requires only that a chaplain be “endorsed by a recognized religious body” and complete a district-provided orientation covering mandatory-reporting obligations. The policy contains no viewpoint-neutrality clause, no minimum-training hours on adolescent psychology, and no provision for auditing a chaplain’s conduct during meetings with individual students.
The American Humanist Association and the Freedom From Religion Foundation have both signaled that they intend to seek chaplain placements under the program, a move that would test whether the district’s “recognized religious body” standard extends to non-theistic belief systems. The district’s attorney, asked for comment on whether a secular humanist chaplain would be admitted under the same terms, said the matter “had not been considered” and would be addressed “on a case-by-case basis.”
Similar bills are pending in at least eleven other state legislatures. In three states, implementing districts have been sued.
This story will be updated as the Cedar Hollow program moves toward implementation.