SB 325: Education; local school systems and public schools to employ or accept as volunteers school chaplains; authorize

Under current Georgia law, schools receive state funding to employ certified school counselors, and only certain certified staff can access confidential child abuse records or count as 'child protection professionals.' This bill would let local school systems and public schools employ or accept as volunteers school chaplains, who could perform school counselor duties either alongside or instead of school counselors. Unlike school counselors, chaplains would not need to be certificated professional personnel or follow Professional Standards Commission rules. The bill also adds school chaplains to the legal definition of 'child protection professional' (O.C.G.A. 19-15-1) and allows them to access confidential child abuse report records the same way school counselors and social workers can (O.C.G.A. 49-5-41). Local boards of education would have to hold a public vote by December 31, 2025 on whether to adopt a policy authorizing school chaplains. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it or it becomes law without a signature.

• Authorizes local school systems and public schools to employ or accept as volunteers school chaplains to provide support, services, and programs for students.
• Allows school chaplains to perform the duties normally required of school counselors, in addition to or instead of counselors.
• Exempts school chaplains from the requirement to be certificated professional personnel or follow Professional Standards Commission rules.
• Adds school chaplains to the legal definition of 'child protection professional' under Georgia's child abuse law (O.C.G.A. 19-15-1).
• Gives school chaplains the same access as school counselors to confidential records of child abuse reports (O.C.G.A. 49-5-41).
• Requires each local board of education or school governing body to hold a public vote by December 31, 2025 on whether to allow school chaplains.

Public school students and their families, local school systems and boards of education, school counselors, school chaplains who could be hired or volunteer, and agencies handling confidential child abuse records, since chaplains would gain access to those records and count as child protection professionals.

Schools could add chaplains to their staff or volunteer rolls to perform counseling-related work without the certification required of school counselors, and those chaplains would gain access to confidential child abuse records. Whether this happens locally depends on each school board's required public vote by the end of 2025.

• Section 1 names the bill the 'School Chaplains Act.'
• Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. 19-15-1 to add 'school chaplain' to the definition of 'child protection professional,' alongside teachers, administrators, and counselors.
• Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. 20-2-182 to let local school systems and public schools employ or accept as volunteers school chaplains to perform assigned student support duties, including school counselor duties, without certification.
• Section 3 also requires each local board of education or governing body to vote publicly by December 31, 2025 on whether to adopt a policy authorizing school chaplains.
• Section 4 amends O.C.G.A. 49-5-41 to add school chaplains to the list of school personnel permitted to access confidential child abuse report records while counseling a student.
• Section 5 sets the effective date as the date the Governor signs the bill or it becomes law without signature.

1. 2025-03-06Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-03-05Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Marty Harbin (R, SD-16)Primary sponsor
• Max Burns (R, SD-23)
• John Albers (R, SD-56)
• Steve Gooch (R, SD-51)
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-29)
• Mike Hodges (R, SD-3)
• Rick Williams (R, SD-25)
• Drew Echols (R, SD-49)
• Colton Moore (R, SD-53)
• Larry Walker, III (R, SD-20)

• school chaplains
• public education
• school counselors
• child abuse records
• religion in schools