II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3043 

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 

OCTOBER 21, 2021 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Student 

5 Athletes from Concussions Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MINIMUM STATE REQUIREMENTS. 

7 (a) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.—Each State that re8 ceives funds under the Elementary and Secondary Edu9 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) and does not 


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1 meet the requirements described in this section, as of the 

2 date of enactment of this Act, shall, not later than the 

3 last day of the fifth full fiscal year after the date of enact4 ment of this Act (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘compli5 ance deadline’’), enact legislation or issue regulations es6 tablishing the following minimum requirements: 

7 (1) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY CONCUSSION

8 SAFETY AND MANAGEMENT PLAN.—Each local edu9 cational agency in the State, in consultation with 

10 members of the community in which such agency is 

11 located, shall develop and implement a standard plan 

12 for concussion safety and management that— 

13 (A) educates students, parents, and school 

14 personnel about concussions, through activities 

15 such as— 

16 (i) training school personnel, including 

17 coaches, teachers, athletic trainers, related 

18 services personnel, and school nurses, on 

19 concussion safety and management, includ20 ing training on the prevention, recognition, 

21 and academic consequences of concussions 

22 and response to concussions; and 

23 (ii) using, maintaining, and dissemi24 nating to students and parents— 


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1 (I) release forms and other ap2 propriate forms for reporting and 

3 record keeping; 

4 (II) treatment plans; and 

5 (III) prevention and post-injury 

6 observation and monitoring fact 

7 sheets about concussion; 

8 (B) encourages supports, where feasible, 

9 for a student recovering from a concussion (re10 gardless of whether or not the concussion oc11 curred during school-sponsored activities, dur12 ing school hours, on school property, or during 

13 an athletic activity), such as— 

14 (i) guiding the student in resuming 

15 participation in athletic activity and aca16 demic activities with the help of a multi17 disciplinary concussion management team, 

18 which may include— 

19 (I) a health care professional, the 

20 parents of such student, a school 

21 nurse, relevant related services per22 sonnel, and other relevant school per23 sonnel; and 

24 (II) an individual who is assigned 

25 by a public school to oversee and 


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1 manage the recovery of such student; 

2 and 

3 (ii) providing appropriate academic 

4 accommodations aimed at progressively re5 introducing cognitive demands on the stu6 dent; and 

7 (C) encourages the use of best practices 

8 designed to ensure, with respect to concussions, 

9 the uniformity of safety standards, treatment, 

10 and management, such as— 

11 (i) disseminating information on con12 cussion safety and management to the 

13 public; and 

14 (ii) applying uniform best practice 

15 standards for concussion safety and man16 agement to all students enrolled in public 

17 schools. 

18 (2) POSTING OF INFORMATION ON CONCUS19 SIONS.—Each public elementary school and each 

20 public secondary school shall post on school grounds, 

21 in a manner that is visible to students and school 

22 personnel, and make publicly available on the school 

23 website, information on concussions that— 

24 (A) is based on peer-reviewed scientific evi25 dence (such as information made available by 


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1 the Centers for Disease Control and Preven2 tion); 

3 (B) shall include information on— 

4 (i) the risks posed by sustaining a 

5 concussion; 

6 (ii) the actions a student should take 

7 in response to sustaining a concussion, in8 cluding the notification of school personnel; 

9 and 

10 (iii) the signs and symptoms of a con11 cussion; and 

12 (C) may include information on— 

13 (i) the definition of a concussion; 

14 (ii) the means available to the student 

15 to reduce the incidence or recurrence of a 

16 concussion; and 

17 (iii) the effects of a concussion on 

18 academic learning and performance. 

19 (3) RESPONSE TO CONCUSSION.—If an indi20 vidual designated from among school personnel for 

21 purposes of this Act, one of whom must be in at22 tendance at every school-sponsored activity, suspects 

23 that a student has sustained a concussion (regard24 less of whether or not the concussion occurred durVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Oct 26, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3043.IS S3043

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1 ing school-sponsored activities, during school hours, 

2 on school property, or during an athletic activity)— 

3 (A) the student shall be— 

4 (i) immediately removed from partici5 pation in a school-sponsored athletic activ6 ity; and 

7 (ii) prohibited from returning to par8 ticipate in a school-sponsored athletic ac9 tivity on the day that student is removed 

10 from such participation; and 

11 (B) the designated individual shall report 

12 to the parent or guardian of such student— 

13 (i) any information that the des14 ignated school employee is aware of re15 garding the date, time, and type of the in16 jury suffered by such student (regardless 

17 of where, when, or how a concussion may 

18 have occurred); and 

19 (ii) any actions taken to treat such 

20 student. 

21 (4) RETURN TO ATHLETICS.—If a student has 

22 sustained a concussion (regardless of whether or not 

23 the concussion occurred during school-sponsored ac24 tivities, during school hours, on school property, or 

25 during an athletic activity), before such student reVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Oct 26, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3043.IS S3043

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1 sumes participation in school-sponsored athletic ac2 tivities, the school shall receive a written release 

3 from a health care professional, that— 

4 (A) states that the student is capable of 

5 resuming participation in such activities; and 

6 (B) may require the student to follow a 

7 plan designed to aid the student in recovering 

8 and resuming participation in such activities in 

9 a manner that— 

10 (i) is coordinated, as appropriate, with 

11 periods of cognitive and physical rest while 

12 symptoms of a concussion persist; and 

13 (ii) reintroduces cognitive and phys14 ical demands on such student on a pro15 gressive basis only as such increases in ex16 ertion do not cause the reemergence or 

17 worsening of symptoms of a concussion. 

18 (b) NONCOMPLIANCE.— 

19 (1) FIRST YEAR.—If a State described in sub20 section (a) fails to comply with subsection (a) by the 

21 compliance deadline, the Secretary of Education 

22 shall reduce by 5 percent the amount of funds the 

23 State receives under the Elementary and Secondary 

24 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) for 


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1 the first fiscal year following the compliance dead2 line. 

3 (2) SUCCEEDING YEARS.—If the State fails to 

4 so comply by the last day of any fiscal year following 

5 the compliance deadline, the Secretary of Education 

6 shall reduce by 10 percent the amount of funds the 

7 State receives under that Act for the following fiscal 

8 year. 

9 (3) NOTIFICATION OF NONCOMPLIANCE.—Prior 

10 to reducing any funds that a State receives under 

11 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

12 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) in accordance with 

13 this subsection, the Secretary of Education shall 

14 provide a written notification of the intended reduc15 tion of funds to the State and to the appropriate 

16 committees of Congress. 

17 SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

18 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect civil 

19 or criminal liability under Federal or State law. 

20 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this Act: 

22 (1) CONCUSSION.—The term ‘‘concussion’’ 

23 means a type of mild traumatic brain injury that— 


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1 (A) is caused by a blow, jolt, or motion to 

2 the head or body that causes the brain to move 

3 rapidly in the skull; 

4 (B) disrupts normal brain functioning and 

5 alters the mental state of the individual, caus6 ing the individual to experience— 

7 (i) any period of observed or self-re8 ported— 

9 (I) transient confusion, dis10 orientation, or impaired consciousness; 

11 (II) dysfunction of memory 

12 around the time of injury; or 

13 (III) loss of consciousness lasting 

14 less than 30 minutes; or 

15 (ii) any 1 of 4 types of symptoms, in16 cluding— 

17 (I) physical symptoms, such as 

18 headache, fatigue, or dizziness; 

19 (II) cognitive symptoms, such as 

20 memory disturbance or slowed think21 ing; 

22 (III) emotional symptoms, such 

23 as irritability or sadness; or 

24 (IV) difficulty sleeping; and 

25 (C) can occur— 


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1 (i) with or without the loss of con2 sciousness; and 

3 (ii) during participation in any orga4 nized sport or recreational activity. 

5 (2) HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL.—The term 

6 ‘‘health care professional’’— 

7 (A) means an individual who has been 

8 trained in diagnosis and management of con9 cussion in a pediatric population; and 

10 (B) is registered, licensed, certified, or oth11 erwise statutorily recognized by the State to 

12 provide such diagnosis and management. 

13 (3) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY; STATE.— 

14 The terms ‘‘local educational agency’’ and ‘‘State’’ 

15 have the meanings given such terms in section 8101 

16 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

17 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

18 (4) RELATED SERVICES PERSONNEL.—The 

19 term ‘‘related services personnel’’ means individuals 

20 who provide related services, as defined under sec21 tion 602 of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu22 cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1401). 

23 (5) SCHOOL-SPONSORED ATHLETIC ACTIVITY.— 

24 The term ‘‘school-sponsored athletic activity’’ 

25 means— 


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1 (A) any physical education class or pro2 gram of a school; 

3 (B) any athletic activity authorized during 

4 the school day on school grounds that is not an 

5 instructional activity; 

6 (C) any extra-curricular sports team, club, 

7 or league organized by a school on or off school 

8 grounds; and 

9 (D) any recess activity. 

Æ 


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