Gov. DeSantis in Kissimmee to sign bills allowing chaplains and ‘patriotic groups’ on campus

Gov. Ron DeSantis made an appearance in Kissimmee Thursday to sign into law legislation he said would, “Help enhance the student experience.”

In front of an audience in Tohopekaliga High School’s gym, DeSantis signed House Bills 1317 and 931, which allows school access for what he called “patriotic groups” like Big Brothers-Big Sisters, the Boys & Girls Club, Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts, service branches Cadet Corps and Little League Baseball. It allows those groups to come on campus and distribute information in classrooms, recruit or encourage participation and inform how those groups can, as 1317 reads, “better then students’ school and community and themselves.”

The bill also states parents or guardians must be notified of the organization’s presentation to allow to withhold consent for their child to participate.

An official at Tohopekaliga High said after the press conference that while those organizations are already allowed on campus, it solidifies the process for how they apply to come.

“If you don’t want your child to participate, they don’t have to, simple as that,” DeSantis said.

HB 931 allows for the presence of volunteer school chaplains, requires them to meet certain background screening requirements and requires schools to describe what services or programs those chaplains will provide to parents. It will require written parental consent before a student participates in or receives those services. Parents must be permitted to select a volunteer school chaplain from the list provided by the school district, which must include the chaplain's religious affiliation, if any.

“I like to believe this is an essential part of a school education to give parents this option,” DeSantis said. “When education in the United States first started, every school was a religious school. That was just part of it. There’s been things done over the years that veered away from that original intent.”

Osceola County School Superintendent Dr. Mark Shanoff said the bill ensures a new path of success for students.

“In my 18 years teaching in schools, the most successful years were those that my schools had strong ties to faith-based supports, mentorship and advocacy,” he said. “Their intervention set countless students up for success.”

The contemporary faith Go Church holds services Sundays at the high school. 

“We are community-engaged, and we serve the heart. Today’s bills prove this is a great school system and state,” Go Church Pastor Barry Rice said. “For children to be able to go to a chaplain that will be able to work with school, it’s an honor to be able to serve those students. It takes not just educators, but a whole community, to build students of character.”

Crispin Johnson is Toho High’s campus monitor, and has a daughter who attends the school. He said he’s glad for the presence of another influence at school.

“I’m grateful to have a faith-based person on campus who can help with the challenges our kids have people to ask for help,” he said.

DeSantis was asked about the litigation that constitutional groups like the ACLU have raised that such a faith-based bill are an unconstitutional violation of the separation of church and state.

“When the chaplains come to campus, the parents have to consent for the student to receive services. This is purely voluntary. It’s not imposing anything anyone doesn’t want,” he said. “We’re going to be using common sense … to exclude religious groups from school campuses, that’s discrimination.”

The bills take effect July 1.