Effective Date: Beginning with the 2023-2024 school year

A school district or open-enrollment charter school may employ or accept as a volunteer a chaplain to provide support, services, and programs for students as assigned by the board of trustees of the district or the governing body of the school. A chaplain employed or volunteering under this chapter is not required to be certified by the State Board for Educator Certification.

A school district or open-enrollment charter school that employs or accepts as a volunteer a chaplain under this chapter shall ensure that the chaplain complies with the applicable requirements under Texas Education Code, Chapter 22, Subchapter C, before the chaplain begins employment or volunteering at the district or school.

A school district or open-enrollment charter school may not employ or accept as a volunteer a chaplain who has been convicted of or placed on deferred adjudication community supervision for an offense for which a defendant is required to register as a sex offender under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure.

Funds allocated under Texas Education Code 48.114 must be used if there is a cost to use chaplains in school safety and security training and planning, specifically in restorative discipline and restorative justice practices, providing mental health support, providing behavioral health services, and providing programs related to suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention.

Each board of trustees of a school district and each governing body of an open-enrollment charter school shall take a record vote not later than six months after the effective date of this Act on whether to adopt a policy authorizing a campus of the district or school to employ, or accept as a volunteer, a chaplain under Texas Education Code Chapter 23.