II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 988 

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 

APRIL 16, 2015 

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 2015’’. 

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 rec3 ordkeeping; 

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 suspects that a student has sus22 tained 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)— 


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1 (A) the student shall be— 

2 (i) immediately removed from partici3 pation in a school-sponsored athletic activ4 ity; and 

5 (ii) prohibited from returning to par6 ticipate in a school-sponsored athletic ac7 tivity— 

8 (I) on the day such student is re9 moved from such participation; and 

10 (II) until such student submits a 

11 written release from a health care 

12 professional stating that the student 

13 is capable of resuming participation in 

14 school-sponsored athletic activities; 

15 and 

16 (B) the designated individual shall report 

17 to the parent or guardian of such student— 

18 (i) any information that the des19 ignated school employee is aware of re20 garding the date, time, and type of the in21 jury suffered by such student (regardless 

22 of where, when, or how a concussion may 

23 have occurred); and 

24 (ii) any actions taken to treat such 

25 student. 


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

2 sustained a concussion (regardless of whether or not 

3 the concussion occurred during school-sponsored ac4 tivities, during school hours, on school property, or 

5 during an athletic activity), before such student re6 sumes participation in school-sponsored athletic ac7 tivities, the school shall receive a written release 

8 from a health care professional, that— 

9 (A) states that the student is capable of 

10 resuming participation in such activities; and 

11 (B) may require the student to follow a 

12 plan designed to aid the student in recovering 

13 and resuming participation in such activities in 

14 a manner that— 

15 (i) is coordinated, as appropriate, with 

16 periods of cognitive and physical rest while 

17 symptoms of a concussion persist; and 

18 (ii) reintroduces cognitive and phys19 ical demands on such student on a pro20 gressive basis only as such increases in ex21 ertion do not cause the reemergence or 

22 worsening of symptoms of a concussion. 

23 (b) NONCOMPLIANCE.— 

24 (1) FIRST YEAR.—If a State described in sub25 section (a) fails to comply with subsection (a) by the 


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1 compliance deadline, the Secretary of Education 

2 shall reduce by 5 percent the amount of funds the 

3 State receives under the Elementary and Secondary 

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

5 the first fiscal year following the compliance dead6 line. 

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

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

9 the compliance deadline, the Secretary of Education 

10 shall reduce by 10 percent the amount of funds the 

11 State receives under that Act for the following fiscal 

12 year. 

13 (3) NOTIFICATION OF NONCOMPLIANCE.—Prior 

14 to reducing any funds that a State receives under 

15 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

16 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) in accordance with 

17 this subsection, the Secretary of Education shall 

18 provide a written notification of the intended reduc19 tion of funds to the State and to the appropriate 

20 committees of Congress. 

21 SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

22 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect civil 

23 or criminal liability under Federal or State law. 

24 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this Act: 


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

2 means a type of mild traumatic brain injury that— 

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

4 the head or body that causes the brain to move 

5 rapidly in the skull; 

6 (B) disrupts normal brain functioning and 

7 alters the mental state of the individual, caus8 ing the individual to experience— 

9 (i) any period of observed or self-re10 ported— 

11 (I) transient confusion, dis12 orientation, or impaired consciousness; 

13 (II) dysfunction of memory 

14 around the time of injury; or 

15 (III) loss of consciousness lasting 

16 less than 30 minutes; or 

17 (ii) any 1 of 4 types of symptoms, in18 cluding— 

19 (I) physical symptoms, such as 

20 headache, fatigue, or dizziness; 

21 (II) cognitive symptoms, such as 

22 memory disturbance or slowed think23 ing; 

24 (III) emotional symptoms, such 

25 as irritability or sadness; or 


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1 (IV) difficulty sleeping; and 

2 (C) can occur— 

3 (i) with or without the loss of con4 sciousness; and 

5 (ii) during participation in any orga6 nized sport or recreational activity. 

7 (2) HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL.—The term 

8 ‘‘health care professional’’— 

9 (A) means an individual who has been 

10 trained in diagnosis and management of trau11 matic brain injury in a pediatric population; 

12 and 

13 (B) includes a physician (M.D. or D.O.) or 

14 certified athletic trainer who is registered, li15 censed, certified, or otherwise statutorily recog16 nized by the State to provide such diagnosis 

17 and management. 

18 (3) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY; STATE.— 

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

20 have the meanings given such terms in section 9101 

21 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

22 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

23 (4) RELATED SERVICES PERSONNEL.—The 

24 term ‘‘related services personnel’’ means individuals 

25 who provide related services, as defined under secVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:08 Apr 23, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S988.IS S988

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1 tion 602 of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu2 cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1401). 

3 (5) SCHOOL-SPONSORED ATHLETIC ACTIVITY.— 

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

5 means— 

6 (A) any physical education class or pro7 gram of a school; 

8 (B) any athletic activity authorized during 

9 the school day on school grounds that is not an 

10 instructional activity; 

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

12 or league organized by a school on or off school 

13 grounds; and 

14 (D) any recess activity. 

Æ 


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