SB294INTRODUCED
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SB294
5NX7336-1
By Senator Smitherman
RFD: Education Policy
First Read: 04-Apr-24
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5 5NX7336-1 03/21/2024 GP (L)lg 2024-1251
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First Read: 04-Apr-24
SYNOPSIS:
This bill would authorize a public school or
public charter school to employ or accept as a
volunteer a campus chaplain to provide services,
provided the campus chaplain undergoes a criminal
history background information check before the
chaplain is employed or accepted as a volunteer.
This bill would prohibit any individual who has
been adjudicated or convicted of an offense that
requires registration as a sex offender from working or
volunteering as a campus chaplain in a public school or
public charter school.
This bill would also require each local board of
education and the governing body of each public charter
school to vote on whether to allow schools in their
jurisdiction to employ or accept a campus chaplain as a
volunteer.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to chaplains; to allow a public K-12 school or
public charter school to employ or accept a campus chaplain as
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public charter school to employ or accept a campus chaplain as
a volunteer; to prohibit certain individuals from working or
volunteering as a campus chaplain in a public school or public
charter school; and to require each local board of education
and the governing body of each public charter school to vote
on whether to allow the employment or volunteer services of a
campus chaplain.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. (a) For the purposes of this section, the
term "public school" means any public K-12 school or public
charter school.
(b)(1) Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, a
public school may employ or accept as a volunteer a campus
chaplain to provide support, services, and programs. A campus
chaplain employed or volunteering under this section is not
required to be certified by the State Board of Education.
(2) Each campus chaplain employed or volunteering under
this section must have completed a recognized chaplain
training program.
(c) A public school that employs or accepts a campus
chaplain as a volunteer under this section, before the campus
chaplain may begin employment or volunteering, shall ensure
that the campus chaplain complies with Section 16-22A-5, Code
of Alabama 1975, relating to criminal history background
information check requirements.
(d) A public school may not employ or accept a campus
chaplain as a volunteer who has been adjudicated or convicted
of an offense that requires registration as a sex offender
under Chapter 20A of Title 15, Code of Alabama 1975.
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under Chapter 20A of Title 15, Code of Alabama 1975.
(e) Each local board of education and the governing
body of each public charter school shall take a recorded vote
no later than April 1, 2025, on whether to adopt a policy
authorizing a public school under its jurisdiction to employ
or accept as a volunteer a campus chaplain under this section.
Section 2. This act shall become effective on October
1, 2024.
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