Who are we?
BJC (Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty) is a national faith-based group solely focused on protecting religious freedom for all. We're also home to the Christians Against Christian Nationalism campaign.
What are we taking action on?On June 18th, 2023, Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill into law (SB 763) that requires school districts to vote on whether to adopt a new policy that would allow employee or volunteer chaplains
to provide “support, services, and programs for students” in public schools. Chaplain is not defined, and the only requirement to be chaplain under SB 763 is the ability to pass a background check. Under this new law, chaplains could serve as students’ first point of contact for mental health support, suicide prevention, and other behavioral health services – even though they are not required to have any type of formal training or certification.Between September 1st and March 1st, all 1,200+ school boards in Texas MUST vote on whether or not to enforce this policy and allow untrained chaplains on their campuses. Only a handful have voted so far, most of them rejecting this misguided policy option.
Why is tracking our impact important?
There are over 1200 school boards across the state. Filling out our tracking form allows us to see who is taking action across the state, and when school boards are taking up the vote. Our software isn't able to track district-by-district when "chaplains" are put on the agenda, but you can help us.
How to use this form:
Section 1: Fill out your information so we know where you are taking action and so we can keep in touch with you in the future.
Section 2: Report your school district.
-It's impossible for us to know when each of Texas' 1200+ school districts are taking a vote on SB 763, so let us know when it's on your district's agenda! Once we're aware of a possible vote, we can organize appropriately.
Section 3: Contact your school board members.
-Find your members' email addresses on the internet.
-Copy and past the email script in section 2 and personalize your message.
-Once you send those emails, let us know that you completed an action!
Come back to section 2 at a later date if your school board hasn't announced when they're going to vote.
