[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 469 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 469

To promote minimum State requirements for the prevention and treatment 
of concussions caused by participation in school sports, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 26, 2011

 Mr. Bishop of New York (for himself, Mr. George Miller of California, 
Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Andrews, Mr. Holt, Mr. Loebsack, Mrs. McCarthy of New 
York, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Polis, Ms. Hirono, and Mr. Grijalva) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education 
                           and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 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 of 2011''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Involvement in sports can have tremendous benefits for 
        the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development of 
        students.
            (2) All students have the right to know the risks of 
        concussions because concussions, though a mild traumatic brain 
        injury, present such a significant risk to not only the 
        physical well-being of a developing student, but also the 
        academic performance of the student.
            (3) Mild traumatic brain injuries, including concussions, 
        represent 80 to 90 percent of all traumatic brain injuries.
            (4) Children and adolescents are more vulnerable to brain 
        injury than adults because their brains are still developing.
            (5) Surveys suggest that the prevalence of sport-related 
        concussions is much higher than reported and the occurrence of 
        concussions is higher at the high school level than at the 
        collegiate level. According to recent research, 400,000 
        students sustained a concussion while participating in five 
        different sports in a high school athletics program during the 
        2005-2008 school years. Few statistics are available for the 41 
        million children participating in non-scholastic youth sports, 
        but schools report that concussions are occurring on the 
        playground and during physical education classes.
            (6) A recent study estimated that more than 40 percent of 
        high school athletes return to participate in school athletics 
        before they have fully recovered from concussions, which 
        increases the susceptibility of the student athlete to greater 
        injury or death.
            (7) The failure to recognize brain injuries and the 
        mismanagement of such injuries increases the vulnerability of a 
        student athlete to successive injury, cumulative negative 
        health consequences, or chronic impairment.
            (8) Timely recognition and response to concussions aids 
        recovery and helps prevent successive injury, chronic 
        impairment, or death. Only 42 percent of schools have access to 
        an athletic trainer and only 53 percent of schools meet the 
        nurse-to-student ratio recommended by the Federal Government.
            (9) Concussion treatment and management is sporadic in 
        schools and often neglects the athlete's role as a student.
            (10) Medical care from hospitalization and emergency room 
        visits due to a concussion is costly, and treatment is often 
        arbitrary.
            (11) Students should gradually return to physical activity 
        and academic activities only as the symptoms of a concussion 
        permit because research suggests that overexertion from 
        physical activity and academic activities exacerbates symptoms 
        and protracts recovery time for student athletes.
            (12) Instituting best practices offers a reasonable means 
        for protecting student athletes from the risks and consequences 
        of concussions.

SEC. 3. MINIMUM STATE REQUIREMENTS.

    Beginning with fiscal year 2013, in order to be eligible to receive 
funds for such year or a subsequent fiscal year under the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) each State 
educational agency shall issue regulations establishing the following 
minimum requirements:
            (1) Local educational agency concussion safety and 
        management plan.--Each local educational agency in the State, 
        in consultation with members of the community in which such 
        agency is located, shall develop and implement a standard plan 
        for concussion safety and management that includes--
                    (A) the education of students, parents, and school 
                personnel about concussions, such as--
                            (i) the training and certification of 
                        school personnel, including coaches, athletic 
                        trainers, and school nurses, on concussion 
                        safety and management; and
                            (ii) using and maintaining standardized 
                        release forms, treatment plans, observation, 
                        monitoring and reporting forms, recordkeeping 
                        forms, and post-injury fact sheets;
                    (B) supports for students recovering from a 
                concussion, such as--
                            (i) guiding such student in resuming 
                        participation in athletic activity and academic 
                        activities with the help of a multi-
                        disciplinary team, which may include--
                                    (I) a health care professional, the 
                                parents of such student, a school 
                                nurse, or other relevant school 
                                personnel; and
                                    (II) an individual who is assigned 
                                by a public school to oversee and 
                                manage the recovery of such student;
                            (ii) providing appropriate academic 
                        accommodations; and
                            (iii) referring students whose symptoms of 
                        concussion reemerge or persist upon the 
                        reintroduction of cognitive and physical 
                        demands for evaluation of the eligibility of 
                        such students for services under the Individual 
                        with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 
                        et seq.) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 
                        U.S.C. 701 note et seq.); and
                    (C) best practices designed to ensure, with respect 
                to concussions, the uniformity of safety standards, 
                treatment, and management, such as--
                            (i) disseminating information on concussion 
                        management safety and management to the public; 
                        and
                            (ii) applying uniform standards for 
                        concussion safety and management to all 
                        students enrolled in public schools.
            (2) Posting of information on concussions.--Each public 
        elementary school and each secondary school 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 
                (such as information made available by the Centers for 
                Disease Control and Prevention);
                    (B) shall include--
                            (i) the risks posed by sustaining a 
                        concussion;
                            (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;
                            (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 concussion.--If any school personnel, 
        including coaches and athletic trainers, of a public school 
        suspects that a student has sustained a concussion during a 
        school-sponsored athletic activity--
                    (A) the student shall be--
                            (i) immediately removed from participation 
                        in such activity; and
                            (ii) prohibited from returning to 
                        participate in school-sponsored athletic 
                        activities--
                                    (I) on the day such student 
                                sustained a concussion; and
                                    (II) until such student submits a 
                                written release from a health care 
                                professional stating that the student 
                                is capable of resuming participation in 
                                school-sponsored athletic activities; 
                                and
                    (B) such personnel shall report to the parent or 
                guardian of such student--
                            (i) the date, time, and extent of the 
                        injury suffered by such student; and
                            (ii) any actions taken to treat such 
                        student.
            (4) Return to athletics and academics.--Before a student 
        who has sustained a concussion in a school-sponsored athletic 
        activity resumes participation in school-sponsored athletic 
        activities or academic activities, the school shall receive a 
        written release from a health care professional, that--
                    (A) states that the student is capable of resuming 
                participation in such activities; and
                    (B) 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 such student on a progressive basis 
                        only as such increases in exertion do not cause 
                        the reemergence or worsening of symptoms of a 
                        concussion.

SEC. 4. REPORT TO SECRETARY OF EDUCATION.

    Not later than 6 months after promulgating regulations pursuant to 
section 3 in order to be eligible to receive funds under the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), each 
State educational agency shall submit to the Secretary of Education a 
report that contains--
            (1) a description of the State regulations promulgated 
        pursuant to section 3; and
            (2) an assurance that the State has implemented such 
        regulations.

SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

    Nothing in this Act shall be construed to alter or supersede State 
law with respect to education standards or procedures or civil 
liability.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Concussion.--The term ``concussion'' means a type of 
        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 mental state of the individual, causing the 
                individual to experience--
                            (i) any period of observed or self-reported 
                        --
                                    (I) transient confusion, 
                                disorientation, or impaired 
                                consciousness;
                                    (II) dysfunction of memory around 
                                the time of injury; and
                                    (III) loss of consciousness lasting 
                                less than 30 minutes;
                            (ii) any one of four types of symptoms of a 
                        headache, including--
                                    (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; and
                                    (IV) difficulty sleeping; and
                    (C) can occur--
                            (i) with or without the loss of 
                        consciousness; and
                            (ii) during participation in any organized 
                        sport or recreational activity.
            (2) Health care professional.--The term ``health care 
        professional'' means a physician, nurse, certified athletic 
        trainer, physical therapist, neuropsychologist or other 
        qualified individual who--
                    (A) is a registered, licensed, certified, or 
                otherwise statutorily recognized by the State to 
                provide medical treatment;
                    (B) is experienced in the diagnosis and management 
                of traumatic brain injury among a pediatric population; 
                and
                    (C) may be a volunteer.
            (3) Local educational agency; state educational agency.--
        The terms ``local educational agency'' and ``State educational 
        agency'' have the meanings given such terms in section 9101 of 
        the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        7801).
            (4) School personnel.--The term ``school personnel'' has 
        the meaning given such term in section 4151 of the Elementary 
        and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7161).
            (5) School-sponsored athletic activity.--The term ``school-
        sponsored athletic activity'' means--
                    (A) any physical education class or program of a 
                school;
                    (B) any athletic activity authorized during the 
                school day on school grounds that is not an 
                instructional activity; and
                    (C) any extracurricular sports team, club, or 
                league organized by a school on or off school grounds.
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