What This Bill Does
This bill requires states that receive federal education funds to establish minimum rules for preventing and treating concussions (a type of brain injury) in school sports. States must pass laws or create regulations meeting specific requirements within five years of the bill becoming law. States that fail to comply will lose federal education funding.
Who It Affects
States that receive Elementary and Secondary Education Act funds, local school districts, public elementary and secondary schools, students in school sports, parents of students, school personnel (coaches, teachers, athletic trainers, nurses), and health care professionals who treat concussions.
Key Provisions
• Each local school district must develop and implement a plan for concussion safety and management that educates students, parents, and school staff about concussions through training and fact sheets (Sec. 2(a)(1)).
• All public elementary and secondary schools must post information about concussions based on scientific evidence on school grounds and websites, including signs and symptoms of concussions (Sec. 2(a)(2)).
• A designated school staff member must be present at every school-sponsored activity and must immediately remove any student suspected of having a concussion from athletic participation for that day and report details to the student's parent or guardian (Sec. 2(a)(3)).
• Before a student with a concussion returns to school sports, the school must receive written approval from a health care professional trained in concussion diagnosis and management (Sec. 2(a)(4)).
• States that do not comply by the deadline will lose 5 percent of federal education funds in the first year of noncompliance and 10 percent in subsequent years (Sec. 2(b)).
What Changes
States and school districts must create new concussion safety rules and procedures. Schools must hire or designate staff to monitor for concussions at athletic events. Schools must post concussion information publicly. Schools must get health care professional approval before injured students return to sports. Federal education funding decreases for noncompliant states.
Important Definitions
Concussion is defined as a type of mild brain injury caused by a blow, jolt, or motion to the head or body that disrupts normal brain functioning. It can include confusion, memory problems, loss of consciousness (less than 30 minutes), or symptoms like headache, fatigue, dizziness, memory disturbance, slowed thinking, irritability, sadness, or sleep problems. A concussion can happen with or without loss of consciousness during any organized sport or recreational activity.
Health care professional means someone trained in diagnosing and treating concussions in children who is registered, licensed, certified, or recognized by the state to provide this care.
II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 205
To promote minimum State requirements for the prevention and treatment
of concussions caused by participation in school sports, and for other
purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY 1, 2023
Mr. DURBIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
A BILL
To promote minimum State requirements for the prevention
and treatment of concussions caused by participation
in school sports, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Student
4
Athletes from Concussions Act of 2023’’.
5
SEC. 2. MINIMUM STATE REQUIREMENTS.
6
(a) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.—Each State that re-
7
ceives funds under the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
8
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) and does not
9
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•S 205 IS
meet the requirements described in this section, as of the
1
date of enactment of this Act, shall, not later than the
2
last day of the fifth full fiscal year after the date of enact-
3
ment of this Act (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘compli-
4
ance deadline’’), enact legislation or issue regulations es-
5
tablishing the following minimum requirements:
6
(1) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY CONCUSSION
7
SAFETY AND MANAGEMENT PLAN.—Each local edu-
8
cational agency in the State, in consultation with
9
members of the community in which such agency is
10
located, shall develop and implement a standard plan
11
for concussion safety and management that—
12
(A) educates students, parents, and school
13
personnel about concussions, through activities
14
such as—
15
(i) training school personnel, including
16
coaches, teachers, athletic trainers, related
17
services personnel, and school nurses, on
18
concussion safety and management, includ-
19
ing training on the prevention, recognition,
20
and academic consequences of concussions
21
and response to concussions; and
22
(ii) using, maintaining, and dissemi-
23
nating to students and parents—
24
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•S 205 IS
(I) release forms and other ap-
1
propriate forms for reporting and
2
record keeping;
3
(II) treatment plans; and
4
(III) prevention and post-injury
5
observation
and
monitoring
fact
6
sheets about concussion;
7
(B) encourages supports, where feasible,
8
for a student recovering from a concussion (re-
9
gardless of whether or not the concussion oc-
10
curred during school-sponsored activities, dur-
11
ing school hours, on school property, or during
12
an athletic activity), such as—
13
(i) guiding the student in resuming
14
participation in athletic activity and aca-
15
demic activities with the help of a multi-
16
disciplinary concussion management team,
17
which may include—
18
(I) a health care professional, the
19
parents of such student, a school
20
nurse, relevant related services per-
21
sonnel, and other relevant school per-
22
sonnel; and
23
(II) an individual who is assigned
24
by a public school to oversee and
25
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•S 205 IS
manage the recovery of such student;
1
and
2
(ii) providing appropriate academic
3
accommodations aimed at progressively re-
4
introducing cognitive demands on the stu-
5
dent; and
6
(C) encourages the use of best practices
7
designed to ensure, with respect to concussions,
8
the uniformity of safety standards, treatment,
9
and management, such as—
10
(i) disseminating information on con-
11
cussion safety and management to the
12
public; and
13
(ii) applying uniform best practice
14
standards for concussion safety and man-
15
agement to all students enrolled in public
16
schools.
17
(2) POSTING
OF
INFORMATION
ON
CONCUS-
18
SIONS.—Each public elementary school and each
19
public secondary school shall post on school grounds,
20
in a manner that is visible to students and school
21
personnel, and make publicly available on the school
22
website, information on concussions that—
23
(A) is based on peer-reviewed scientific evi-
24
dence (such as information made available by
25
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•S 205 IS
the Centers for Disease Control and Preven-
1
tion);
2
(B) shall include information on—
3
(i) the risks posed by sustaining a
4
concussion;
5
(ii) the actions a student should take
6
in response to sustaining a concussion, in-
7
cluding the notification of school personnel;
8
and
9
(iii) the signs and symptoms of a con-
10
cussion; and
11
(C) may include information on—
12
(i) the definition of a concussion;
13
(ii) the means available to the student
14
to reduce the incidence or recurrence of a
15
concussion; and
16
(iii) the effects of a concussion on
17
academic learning and performance.
18
(3) RESPONSE
TO
CONCUSSION.—If an indi-
19
vidual designated from among school personnel for
20
purposes of this Act, one of whom must be in at-
21
tendance at every school-sponsored activity, suspects
22
that a student has sustained a concussion (regard-
23
less of whether or not the concussion occurred dur-
24
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•S 205 IS
ing school-sponsored activities, during school hours,
1
on school property, or during an athletic activity)—
2
(A) the student shall be—
3
(i) immediately removed from partici-
4
pation in a school-sponsored athletic activ-
5
ity; and
6
(ii) prohibited from returning to par-
7
ticipate in a school-sponsored athletic ac-
8
tivity on the day that student is removed
9
from such participation; and
10
(B) the designated individual shall report
11
to the parent or guardian of such student—
12
(i) any information that the des-
13
ignated school employee is aware of re-
14
garding the date, time, and type of the in-
15
jury suffered by such student (regardless
16
of where, when, or how a concussion may
17
have occurred); and
18
(ii) any actions taken to treat such
19
student.
20
(4) RETURN TO ATHLETICS.—If a student has
21
sustained a concussion (regardless of whether or not
22
the concussion occurred during school-sponsored ac-
23
tivities, during school hours, on school property, or
24
during an athletic activity), before such student re-
25
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•S 205 IS
sumes participation in school-sponsored athletic ac-
1
tivities, the school shall receive a written release
2
from a health care professional, that—
3
(A) states that the student is capable of
4
resuming participation in such activities; and
5
(B) may require the student to follow a
6
plan designed to aid the student in recovering
7
and resuming participation in such activities in
8
a manner that—
9
(i) is coordinated, as appropriate, with
10
periods of cognitive and physical rest while
11
symptoms of a concussion persist; and
12
(ii) reintroduces cognitive and phys-
13
ical demands on such student on a pro-
14
gressive basis only as such increases in ex-
15
ertion do not cause the reemergence or
16
worsening of symptoms of a concussion.
17
(b) NONCOMPLIANCE.—
18
(1) FIRST YEAR.—If a State described in sub-
19
section (a) fails to comply with subsection (a) by the
20
compliance deadline, the Secretary of Education
21
shall reduce by 5 percent the amount of funds the
22
State receives under the Elementary and Secondary
23
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) for
24
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•S 205 IS
the first fiscal year following the compliance dead-
1
line.
2
(2) SUCCEEDING YEARS.—If the State fails to
3
so comply by the last day of any fiscal year following
4
the compliance deadline, the Secretary of Education
5
shall reduce by 10 percent the amount of funds the
6
State receives under that Act for the following fiscal
7
year.
8
(3) NOTIFICATION OF NONCOMPLIANCE.—Prior
9
to reducing any funds that a State receives under
10
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
11
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) in accordance with
12
this subsection, the Secretary of Education shall
13
provide a written notification of the intended reduc-
14
tion of funds to the State and to the appropriate
15
committees of Congress.
16
SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
17
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect civil
18
or criminal liability under Federal or State law.
19
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
20
In this Act:
21
(1)
CONCUSSION.—The
term
‘‘concussion’’
22
means a type of mild traumatic brain injury that—
23
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(A) is caused by a blow, jolt, or motion to
1
the head or body that causes the brain to move
2
rapidly in the skull;
3
(B) disrupts normal brain functioning and
4
alters the mental state of the individual, caus-
5
ing the individual to experience—
6
(i) any period of observed or self-re-
7
ported—
8
(I)
transient
confusion,
dis-
9
orientation, or impaired consciousness;
10
(II)
dysfunction
of
memory
11
around the time of injury; or
12
(III) loss of consciousness lasting
13
less than 30 minutes; or
14
(ii) any 1 of 4 types of symptoms, in-
15
cluding—
16
(I) physical symptoms, such as
17
headache, fatigue, or dizziness;
18
(II) cognitive symptoms, such as
19
memory disturbance or slowed think-
20
ing;
21
(III) emotional symptoms, such
22
as irritability or sadness; or
23
(IV) difficulty sleeping; and
24
(C) can occur—
25
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•S 205 IS
(i) with or without the loss of con-
1
sciousness; and
2
(ii) during participation in any orga-
3
nized sport or recreational activity.
4
(2) HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL.—The term
5
‘‘health care professional’’—
6
(A) means an individual who has been
7
trained in diagnosis and management of con-
8
cussion in a pediatric population; and
9
(B) is registered, licensed, certified, or oth-
10
erwise statutorily recognized by the State to
11
provide such diagnosis and management.
12
(3) LOCAL
EDUCATIONAL
AGENCY; STATE.—
13
The terms ‘‘local educational agency’’ and ‘‘State’’
14
have the meanings given such terms in section 8101
15
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
16
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
17
(4) RELATED
SERVICES
PERSONNEL.—The
18
term ‘‘related services personnel’’ means individuals
19
who provide related services, as defined under sec-
20
tion 602 of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu-
21
cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1401).
22
(5) SCHOOL-SPONSORED ATHLETIC ACTIVITY.—
23
The
term
‘‘school-sponsored
athletic
activity’’
24
means—
25
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•S 205 IS
(A) any physical education class or pro-
1
gram of a school;
2
(B) any athletic activity authorized during
3
the school day on school grounds that is not an
4
instructional activity;
5
(C) any extra-curricular sports team, club,
6
or league organized by a school on or off school
7
grounds; and
8
(D) any recess activity.
9
Æ
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