On Friday, the Utah House voted 56-13 to pass HB514, a bill that would give school districts the option to help provide emotional and spiritual support to children. If the bill passes the Senate, Governor Cox has signaled his eagerness to sign it. The presence would threaten constitutional rights, mental well-being, and the religious diversity of students and staff. The bill undermines our values and creates legal, ethical, and social problems for Utah schools.

Growing up in a rural community in northeastern Utah, a chaplain encouraged me to “pray away” my problems and promised vast blessings in return. To my astonishment, the unaddressed mental health challenges I faced remained unresolved. Furthermore, nothing in the bill “prohibits a chaplain from proselytizing in the position, prohibits spiritual counseling, or ensures that if they do provide counseling, they meet some standard.” Certified school counselors are the only professionals to provide effective and inclusive student support. This bill attempts to address the need for more qualified counselors and needs a more viable solution. Legislators have a duty to guarantee that every school has enough counselors to meet the diverse needs of their students. While chaplains may be well-intentioned, they lack mental health professionals’ training and certification.

The average counselor-to-student ratio in Utah schools is approximately 1:298.31 for secondary schools (grades 7-12) with approved school counseling programs (May 2023). Therefore, on average, there is one school counselor for every 298 students. Legislators have a duty to guarantee that every school has enough counselors to meet the diverse needs of their students. Community members, this is a call to action to plead with our lawmakers to propose a bill for funding to improve the counselor-to-student ratio. What we need is qualified professionals, not unlicensed volunteer chaplains.

Jennifer Montgomery

Sandy

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