Protecting Student Athletes From Concussions Act
Bill: H.R.5216 | Sponsor: Rep. DeSaulnier, Mark (D-CA)
Policy area: Education

Summary:
Protecting Student Athletes From Concussions Act
This bill conditions each state's receipt of federal funds, beginning in FY2023, on the state's enforcement of specified minimum requirements for the prevention and treatment of concussions in school-sponsored athletics and activities.
Each local educational agency must develop and implement a standard plan for concussion safety and management that includes (1) the education of students, parents, and school personnel about concussions; (2) specified supports for each student recovering from a concussion; and (3) best practices designed to ensure the uniformity of safety standards, treatment, and management.
Each public school must post on school grounds and publish on the school website specified information about concussions.
If any public school personnel suspects that a student has sustained a concussion during a school-sponsored activity, the student must be immediately removed from participation in that activity and prohibited from participating in any school-sponsored athletic activities until the student submits a written release from a health care professional. Furthermore, the school personnel must report all available information regarding the injury to a concussion management team that will confirm and report details of the injury to the student's parents.
The school's concussion management team shall consult with and make recommendations to relevant school personnel and the student to ensure that the student is receiving the appropriate academic supports.

To promote State requirements for local educational agencies and public 
    elementary and secondary schools relating to the prevention and 
             treatment of concussions suffered by students.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Student Athletes From 
Concussions Act''.

SEC. 2. MINIMUM STATE REQUIREMENTS.

    Part F of title VIII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7881 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

  ``Subpart 6--State Requirements for the Prevention and Treatment of 
                              Concussions

``SEC. 8581. MINIMUM STATE REQUIREMENTS.

    ``(a) In General.--Beginning fiscal year 2023, as a condition of 
receiving funds under this Act for a fiscal year, a State shall, not 
later than July 1 of the preceding fiscal year, certify to the 
Secretary in accordance with subsection (b) that the State has in 
effect and is enforcing a law or regulation that, at a minimum, 
establishes the following requirements:
            ``(1) Local educational agency concussion safety and 
        management plan.--Each local educational agency in the State 
        (including each charter school that is considered a local 
        educational agency under State law), in consultation with 
        members of the community in which the local educational agency 
        is located, shall develop and implement a standard plan for 
        concussion safety and management for public schools served by 
        the local educational agency that includes--
                    ``(A) the education of students, parents, and 
                school personnel about concussions, including--
                            ``(i) the training of school personnel on 
                        evidence-based concussion safety and 
                        management, including on prevention, 
                        recognition, risk, academic consequences, and 
                        response for both initial and any subsequent 
                        concussions; and
                            ``(ii) using, maintaining, and 
                        disseminating to students and parents release 
                        forms, treatment plans, observation, 
                        monitoring, and reporting forms, recordkeeping 
                        forms, and post-injury and prevention fact 
                        sheets about concussions;
                    ``(B) supports for each student recovering from a 
                concussion, including--
                            ``(i) guiding the student in resuming 
                        participation in school-sponsored athletic 
                        activities and academic activities with the 
                        help of a multidisciplinary concussion 
                        management team, which shall include--
                                    ``(I) a health care professional, 
                                the parents of such student, and other 
                                relevant school personnel; and
                                    ``(II) an individual who is 
                                assigned by the public school in which 
                                the student is enrolled to oversee and 
                                manage the recovery of the student;
                            ``(ii) providing appropriate academic 
                        accommodations aimed at progressively 
                        reintroducing cognitive demands on such a 
                        student; and
                            ``(iii) if the student's symptoms of 
                        concussion persist for a substantial period of 
                        time--
                                    ``(I) evaluating the student in 
                                accordance with section 614 of the 
                                Individuals with Disabilities Education 
                                Act (20 U.S.C. 1414) to determine 
                                whether the student is eligible for 
                                services under part B of such Act (20 
                                U.S.C. 1411 et seq.); or
                                    ``(II) evaluating whether the 
                                student is eligible for services under 
                                section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act 
                                of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794); and
                    ``(C) best practices designed to ensure, with 
                respect to concussions, the uniformity of safety 
                standards, treatment, and management, including--
                            ``(i) disseminating information on 
                        concussion safety and management to the public; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) applying best practice and uniform 
                        standards for concussion safety and management 
                        to all students enrolled in the public schools 
                        served by the local educational agency.
            ``(2) Posting of information on concussions.--Each public 
        school in the State shall post on school grounds, in a manner 
        that is visible to students and school personnel, and make 
        publicly available on the school website, information on 
        concussions that--
                    ``(A) is based on peer-reviewed scientific evidence 
                or consensus (such as information made available by the 
                Centers for Disease Control and Prevention);
                    ``(B) shall include--
                            ``(i) the risks posed by sustaining a 
                        concussion or multiple concussions;
                            ``(ii) the actions a student should take in 
                        response to sustaining a concussion, including 
                        the notification of school personnel; and
                            ``(iii) the signs and symptoms of a 
                        concussion; and
                    ``(C) may include--
                            ``(i) the definition of a concussion under 
                        section 8582(1);
                            ``(ii) the means available to the student 
                        to reduce the incidence or recurrence of a 
                        concussion; and
                            ``(iii) the effects of a concussion on 
                        academic learning and performance.
            ``(3) Response to a concussion.--If any school personnel of 
        a public school in the State suspect that a student has 
        sustained a concussion during a school-sponsored athletic 
        activity or other school-sponsored activity--
                    ``(A) the student shall be--
                            ``(i) immediately removed from 
                        participation in such activity; and
                            ``(ii) prohibited from resuming 
                        participation in school-sponsored athletic 
                        activities--
                                    ``(I) on the day the student 
                                sustained the concussion; and
                                    ``(II) until the day the student is 
                                capable of resuming such participation, 
                                according to the student's written 
                                release, as described in paragraph (4);
                    ``(B) the school personnel shall report to the 
                concussion management team--
                            ``(i) that the student may have sustained a 
                        concussion; and
                            ``(ii) all available information with 
                        respect to the student's injury; and
                    ``(C) the concussion management team shall confirm 
                and report to the parents of the student--
                            ``(i) the type of injury, and the date and 
                        time of the injury, suffered by the student; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) any actions that have been taken to 
                        treat the student.
            ``(4) Return to athletics.--If a student enrolled in a 
        public school in the State sustains a concussion, before the 
        student resumes participation in school-sponsored athletic 
        activities, the relevant school personnel shall receive a 
        written release from a health care professional, that--
                    ``(A) may require the student to follow a plan 
                designed to aid the student in recovering and resuming 
                participation in such activities in a manner that--
                            ``(i) is coordinated, as appropriate, with 
                        periods of cognitive and physical rest while 
                        symptoms of a concussion persist; and
                            ``(ii) reintroduces cognitive and physical 
                        demands on the student on a progressive basis 
                        so long as such increases in exertion do not 
                        cause the reemergence or worsening of symptoms 
                        of a concussion; and
                    ``(B) states that the student is capable of 
                resuming participation in such activities once the 
                student is asymptomatic.
            ``(5) Return to academics.--If a student enrolled in a 
        public school in the State has sustained a concussion, the 
        concussion management team (as described under paragraph 
        (1)(B)(i)) of the school shall consult with and make 
        recommendations to relevant school personnel and the student to 
        ensure that the student is receiving the appropriate academic 
        supports, including--
                    ``(A) providing for periods of cognitive rest over 
                the course of the school day;
                    ``(B) providing modified academic assignments;
                    ``(C) allowing for gradual reintroduction to 
                cognitive demands; and
                    ``(D) other appropriate academic accommodations or 
                adjustments.
    ``(b) Certification Requirement.--The certification required under 
subsection (a) shall be in writing and include a description of the law 
or regulation that meets the requirements of subsection (a).

``SEC. 8582. DEFINITIONS.

    ``In this subpart:
            ``(1) Concussion.--The term `concussion' means a type of 
        mild traumatic brain injury that--
                    ``(A) is caused by a blow, jolt, or motion to the 
                head or body that causes the brain to move rapidly in 
                the skull;
                    ``(B) disrupts normal brain functioning and alters 
                the physiological state of the individual, causing the 
                individual to experience--
                            ``(i) any period of observed or self-
                        reported--
                                    ``(I) transient confusion, 
                                disorientation, or altered 
                                consciousness;
                                    ``(II) dysfunction of memory around 
                                the time of injury; or
                                    ``(III) disruptions in gait or 
                                balance; and
                            ``(ii) symptoms that may include--
                                    ``(I) physical symptoms, such as 
                                headache, fatigue, or dizziness;
                                    ``(II) cognitive symptoms, such as 
                                memory disturbance or slowed thinking;
                                    ``(III) emotional symptoms, such as 
                                irritability or sadness; or
                                    ``(IV) difficulty sleeping; and
                    ``(C) occurs--
                            ``(i) with or without the loss of 
                        consciousness; and
                            ``(ii) during participation--
                                    ``(I) in a school-sponsored 
                                athletic activity; or
                                    ``(II) in any other activity 
                                without regard to whether the activity 
                                takes place on school property or 
                                during the school day.
            ``(2) Health care professional.--The term `health care 
        professional' means an individual--
                    ``(A) who has been educated in diagnosis and 
                management of concussion in a pediatric population;
                    ``(B) is registered, licensed, nationally 
                certified, or otherwise statutorily recognized by the 
                State to provide such diagnosis and management; and
                    ``(C) whose scope of practice and experience 
                includes the diagnosis and management of traumatic 
                brain injury among a pediatric population.
            ``(3) Public school.--The term `public school' means a 
        public elementary school or public secondary school.
            ``(4) School personnel.--The term `school personnel' 
        includes teachers, principals, administrators, counselors, 
        social workers, psychologists, nurses, librarians, coaches and 
        athletic trainers, and other support staff who are employed by 
        a school or who perform services for the school on a 
        contractual basis.
            ``(5) School-sponsored athletic activity.--The term 
        `school-sponsored athletic activity' means--
                    ``(A) any physical education class or program of a 
                public school;
                    ``(B) any athletic activity authorized by a public 
                school that takes place during the school day on the 
                school's property;
                    ``(C) any activity of an extracurricular sports 
                team, club, or league organized by a public school; and
                    ``(D) any recess activity of a public school.''.

SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    The table of contents in section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 is amended by inserting after the item relating 
to section 8574 the following:

  ``subpart 6--state requirements for the prevention and treatment of 
                              concussions

``Sec. 8581. Minimum State requirements.
``Sec. 8582. Definitions.''.
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