OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Osceola County school board members on Tuesday struck down a motion to create a new chaplain program within the district.

The district was the first in Central Florida and statewide to discuss implementing the new state school chaplain program that went into effect last month.

After listening to public comment from members of the community, school board members recommended school administrators and teachers fill out a survey on how to best implement the program before they voted.

However, District 3 board member Jon Arguello pushed for the vote to happen Tuesday night, when most of the members voted against it. 

What You Need To Know

  • Osceola County Schools not going forward with proposed chaplain program

  • The board held off on moving forward with the program at the last school board meeting after the Satanic Temple had sent the district a letter asking to be a part of the program

  • The district was the first in Central Florida to discuss the potential implementation of this new program

  • The program would allow volunteer chaplains on campuses to provide counseling support to students

House Bill 931, signed into law in April, permits school districts to allow volunteer chaplains on campus to provide counseling support to students with parental permission.

The new law had sparked controversy among community members and school board members.

Arguello was the only school board member backing the program during Tuesday’s meeting, claiming it would help boost student performance and morale.

“These students are crying, begging, clamoring for spiritual and emotional support, and they’re not receiving any because previously people had thought we didn’t need to. Well, now we’re seeing these kids are asking for it, and the community is asking for it," Arguello said. "So, the reason we wouldn’t provide it is really the tough question to answer.”

Jim Book, a pastor at Kissimmee Christian Church, is also in favor of the state program and shared his thoughts at the meeting.

“I think to marginalize people of faith, to demonize people of faith, where we don’t include them, where we practice a kind of discrimination against people of faith — and I just believe there’s an opportunity in the secular school system to be expressive to meet the challenges and needs of our kids in the school system,” Book said.

Despite needing parental permission before seeing a chaplain, some parents expressed concern that this would be an attempt to bring religion into schools.

Blanca Perez and Michael Mello have three children who went to Osceola County Public Schools.

They attended the meeting because they felt that implementing such a program could have repercussions for their community and for democracy.

“I agree that mental health is very important and counseling is important. However, it needs to be done from an approach that is secular and that children of all beliefs and all faiths or no faith are open, that they can feel comfortable to approach and not to feel that they’re going to be perhaps told that the answer lies in one source,” Perez said.

“If you have Christianity in schools, then you’re going to have to allow every other religion to be in schools as well. If not, you’re establishing a rule-ligion, which is violating our constitution. So if people are okay with Christian pastors, they better be okay with satanists coming in and being in our schools,” Mello added.

Despite their concerns, the law still only allows volunteer chaplains to provide counseling and support to students who want it and who have parental consent. The program would not be forced on students who do not wish to speak with a chaplain. School counselors will still be available for other students.

However, parents argued schools should focus their attention on trained mental health professionals or social workers instead.

The school board members who voted against the motion said there is no future for this chaplain program in Osceola County Public Schools for the time being.