A Bill: 116 Congress 1 S

II
116TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 2600
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 15, 2019
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 Representa-

2 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 2019’’.
6 SEC. 2. MINIMUM STATE REQUIREMENTS.
7 (a) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.—Each State that re-

8 ceives funds under the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
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9 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) and does not
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2
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 enact-
4 ment of this Act (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘compli-
5 ance deadline’’), enact legislation or issue regulations es-
6 tablishing the following minimum requirements:
7 (1) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY CONCUSSION
8 SAFETY AND MANAGEMENT PLAN.—Each local edu-

9 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, includ-
20 ing training on the prevention, recognition,
21 and academic consequences of concussions
22 and response to concussions; and
23 (ii) using, maintaining, and dissemi-
24 nating to students and parents—
•S 2600 IS
3
1 (I) release forms and other ap-
2 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 (re-
10 gardless of whether or not the concussion oc-
11 curred during school-sponsored activities, dur-
12 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 aca-
16 demic activities with the help of a multi-
17 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 per-
22 sonnel, and other relevant school per-
23 sonnel; and
24 (II) an individual who is assigned
25 by a public school to oversee and
•S 2600 IS
4
1 manage the recovery of such student;
2 and
3 (ii) providing appropriate academic
4 accommodations aimed at progressively re-
5 introducing cognitive demands on the stu-
6 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 con-
12 cussion safety and management to the
13 public; and
14 (ii) applying uniform best practice
15 standards for concussion safety and man-
16 agement to all students enrolled in public
17 schools.
18 (2) POSTING OF INFORMATION ON CONCUS-
19 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 evi-
25 dence (such as information made available by
•S 2600 IS
5
1 the Centers for Disease Control and Preven-
2 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, in-
8 cluding the notification of school personnel;
9 and
10 (iii) the signs and symptoms of a con-
11 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 indi-
20 vidual designated from among school personnel for
21 purposes of this Act, one of whom must be in at-
22 tendance at every school-sponsored activity, suspects
23 that a student has sustained a concussion (regard-
24 less of whether or not the concussion occurred dur-
•S 2600 IS
6
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 partici-
5 pation in a school-sponsored athletic activ-
6 ity; and
7 (ii) prohibited from returning to par-
8 ticipate in a school-sponsored athletic ac-
9 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 des-
14 ignated school employee is aware of re-
15 garding the date, time, and type of the in-
16 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 ac-
24 tivities, during school hours, on school property, or
25 during an athletic activity), before such student re-
•S 2600 IS
7
1 sumes participation in school-sponsored athletic ac-
2 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 phys-
14 ical demands on such student on a pro-
15 gressive basis only as such increases in ex-
16 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 sub-
20 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
•S 2600 IS
8
1 the first fiscal year following the compliance dead-
2 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 reduc-
15 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—
•S 2600 IS
9
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, caus-
6 ing the individual to experience—
7 (i) any period of observed or self-re-
8 ported—
9 (I) transient confusion, dis-
10 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 one of 4 types of symptoms,
16 including—
17 (I) physical symptoms, such as
18 headache, fatigue, or dizziness;
19 (II) cognitive symptoms, such as
20 memory disturbance or slowed think-
21 ing;
22 (III) emotional symptoms, such
23 as irritability or sadness; or
24 (IV) difficulty sleeping; and
25 (C) can occur—
•S 2600 IS
10
1 (i) with or without the loss of con-
2 sciousness; and
3 (ii) during participation in any orga-
4 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 con-
9 cussion in a pediatric population; and
10 (B) is registered, licensed, certified, or oth-
11 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 sec-
21 tion 602 of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu-
22 cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1401).
23 (5) SCHOOL-SPONSORED ATHLETIC ACTIVITY.—
24 The term ‘‘school-sponsored athletic activity’’

25 means—
•S 2600 IS
11
1 (A) any physical education class or pro-
2 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 extracurricular sports team, club,
7 or league organized by a school on or off school
8 grounds; and
9 (D) any recess activity.
Æ
•S 2600 IS

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II

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

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

7 (a) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.—Each State that re-

8 SAFETY AND MANAGEMENT PLAN.—Each local edu-

25 by a public school to oversee and

19 SIONS.—Each public elementary school and each

25 dence (such as information made available by

25 during an athletic activity), before such student re-

10 to reducing any funds that a State receives under

18 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect civil

25 (C) can occur—

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

19 term ‘‘related services personnel’’ means individuals

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

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