Relates to pupils who have suffered a concussion while receiving instruction or engaging in any school sponsored or school related activity; provides that pupils can resume athletic activity if cleared by a physician assistant or nurse practitioner.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10675
IN ASSEMBLY
March 20, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BERGER -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to pupils who have
suffered a concussion
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph a of subdivision 42 of section 305 of the educa-
2 tion law, as added by chapter 496 of the laws of 2011, is amended to
3 read as follows:
4 a. The commissioner, in conjunction with the commissioner of health,
5 shall promulgate and review as necessary rules and regulations relating
6 to pupils who suffer mild traumatic brain injuries, also referred to as
7 a "concussion," while receiving instruction or engaging in any school
8 sponsored or school related activity. In developing such rules and
9 regulations, the commissioner shall consider comments from stakeholders
10 and other interested parties including but not limited to parents,
11 teachers, students, school administrators, school athletic trainers,
12 sport coaches, medical and health professionals, the public schools
13 athletic league (PSAL), the New York state public high school athletic
14 association (NYSPHSAA), and other athletic associations. Such regu-
15 lations shall include, but not be limited to:
16 (i) requiring a course of instruction relating to recognizing the
17 symptoms of mild traumatic brain injuries and monitoring and seeking
18 proper medical treatment for pupils who suffer mild traumatic brain
19 injuries. Such course of instruction shall be required to be completed
20 on a biennial basis by all school coaches, physical education teachers,
21 nurses [and], athletic trainers and medical directors employed by or
22 under contract to a school or school district. The course of instruc-
23 tion required by this subparagraph shall include, but not be limited to,
24 the definition of a "concussion," signs and symptoms of mild traumatic
25 brain injuries, how such injuries may occur, practices regarding
26 prevention, and the guidelines for the return to school and to certain
27 school activities after a pupil has suffered a mild traumatic brain
28 injury regardless of whether such injury occurred outside of school.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15241-01-6
A. 10675 2
1 Such training may be completed by means of courses of instruction,
2 including but not limited to, courses provided online and by teleconfer-
3 ence approved by the department;
4 (ii) providing that the department and the department of health shall
5 post on their internet websites information relating to mild traumatic
6 brain injuries, which shall include but not be limited to, the defi-
7 nition of a "concussion," signs and symptoms of mild traumatic brain
8 injuries, how such injuries may occur, and the guidelines for the return
9 to school and to certain school activities after a pupil has suffered a
10 mild traumatic brain injury regardless of whether such injury occurred
11 outside of school. Schools shall be required to include such information
12 in any permission form or parent or person in parental relation consent
13 form or similar document that may be required for a pupil's partic-
14 ipation in interscholastic sports and shall also include such informa-
15 tion, or reference how to obtain such information from the department
16 and the department of health internet websites, on the school's internet
17 website, if one exists;
18 (iii) requiring the immediate removal from athletic activities of any
19 pupil believed to have sustained or who has sustained a mild traumatic
20 brain injury. In the event that there is any doubt as to whether a pupil
21 has sustained a concussion, it shall be presumed that [he or she] such
22 pupil has been so injured until proven otherwise. No such pupil shall
23 resume athletic activity until [he or she] such pupil shall have been
24 symptom free for not less than twenty-four hours, has returned to a full
25 class schedule without academic accommodations made due to the mild
26 traumatic brain injury, and has been evaluated by and received written
27 and signed authorization from a licensed physician, physician assistant
28 or nurse practitioner. Such authorization shall be kept on file in the
29 pupil's permanent health record. Furthermore, such rules and regulations
30 shall provide guidelines for limitations and restrictions on school and
31 athletic attendance and activities for pupils who have sustained mild
32 traumatic brain injuries, consistent with the directives of the pupil's
33 treating physician[.]; and
34 (iv) authorizing each school or school district, in its discretion, to
35 establish a concussion management team which may be composed of the
36 athletic director (if any), a school nurse, the school principal, a
37 school guidance counselor, a school teacher, the school [physician] or
38 district medical director, a coach of an interscholastic team, an
39 athletic trainer or such other appropriate personnel as designated by
40 the school or school district. The concussion management team shall
41 oversee the implementation of the rules and regulations promulgated
42 pursuant to this subdivision as it pertains to their associated school
43 including the requirement that all school coaches, physical education
44 teachers, nurses and athletic trainers that work with and provide
45 instruction to pupils engaged in school sponsored athletic activities
46 complete training relating to mild traumatic brain injuries. Further-
47 more, every concussion management team may establish and implement a
48 program which provides information on mild traumatic brain injuries to
49 parents and persons in parental relation throughout each school year.
50 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding
51 the date on which it shall have become a law.
