Directs the commissioner of education to establish rules and regulations for the treatment and monitoring of students who suffer concussions or head injuries and requires that certain school employees who suspect a student of having suffered a concussion or head injury remove such student from physical activity or athletic competition until the student provides a written form from a licensed health care professional authorizing the student to participate in such activities.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7885--A
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 20, 2011
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BENEDETTO -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Education -- recommitted to the Committee on Education in
accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to directing the commis-
sioner of education to establish rules and regulations for the treat-
ment and monitoring of students who suffer concussions or head inju-
ries
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 305 of the education law is amended by adding a new
2 subdivision 43 to read as follows:
3 43. a. The commissioner, in consultation with the department of health
4 and the New York State Public High School Athletic Association, shall:
5 (1) promulgate and regularly update rules and regulations to establish
6 minimum standards for all school districts, boards of cooperative educa-
7 tional services and nonpublic elementary and secondary schools relating
8 to the treatment and monitoring of pupils who suffer or are suspected of
9 suffering concussions and head injuries while receiving instruction or
10 engaging in school sponsored or related physical or athletic activities.
11 Such rules and regulations shall provide for an appropriate level of
12 monitoring the condition, both mental and physical, of every pupil who
13 has suffered or is suspected of suffering a concussion or head injury,
14 and provide appropriate restrictions on participation in physical or
15 athletic activities by such pupils. In addition, a written release form
16 from a licensed health care provider trained in the evaluation and
17 management of concussions and head injuries shall be filed with such
18 pupil's school prior to the resumption of physical or athletic activ-
19 ities;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11028-03-2
A. 7885--A 2
1 (2) distribute to all school districts, boards of cooperative educa-
2 tional services and nonpublic schools an information pamphlet to educate
3 coaches, pupils participating in interscholastic sports, pupils who have
4 suffered or are suspected of suffering concussions or head injuries and
5 persons in parental relation to a pupil on the nature, incidence, treat-
6 ment, warning signs and risks of concussions and head injuries. A copy
7 of such pamphlet shall be provided annually to every teacher of physical
8 education, every coach of interscholastic teams, every pupil who suffers
9 or is suspected of suffering a concussion or head injury and the person
10 in parental relation to each pupil who participates in an interscholas-
11 tic sport or has suffered or is suspected of suffering a concussion or
12 head injury; and
13 (3) distribute to all school districts, boards of cooperative educa-
14 tional services and nonpublic schools a form which attests to receipt of
15 the pamphlet established pursuant to subparagraph two of this paragraph
16 and that the signators have read and understand the nature and risks of
17 concussions and head injuries. No pupil shall practice for or engage in
18 interscholastic sports until such pupil and the person in parental
19 relation to him or her have signed such form. A new form shall be signed
20 by the pupil and the person in parental relation to him or her in every
21 year in which such pupil practices for or engages in interscholastic
22 sports.
23 b. The rules and regulations established pursuant to this subdivision
24 shall be deemed to be the minimum standards that must be complied with
25 by every school district, board of cooperative educational services and
26 nonpublic school relating to concussions and head injuries. Nothing in
27 this subdivision shall prohibit any school district, board of cooper-
28 ative educational services or nonpublic school from adopting and imple-
29 menting more stringent standards.
30 § 2. The education law is amended by adding a new section 3001-e to
31 read as follows:
32 § 3001-e. Students suspected of suffering a concussion or head injury.
33 1. Any teacher, coach, school administrator, school guidance counselor,
34 school psychologist, school drug counselor, school nurse, supervisor of
35 attendance, attendance teacher or attendance officer having reasonable
36 cause to suspect that a secondary or elementary student has suffered a
37 concussion or head injury shall immediately remove such student from any
38 physical activity or athletic competition.
39 2. Any student who has been removed from any physical activity or
40 athletic competition due to suspicion of such student having suffered a
41 concussion or head injury shall not return to any physical activity or
42 athletic competition until such student has provided a written release
43 form from a licensed health care provider trained in the evaluation and
44 management of concussions and head injuries stating that the student may
45 return to physical activity or athletic competition.
46 § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding
47 the date on which it shall have become a law; provided, that, effective
48 immediately, any rules and regulations necessary to implement the
49 provisions of this act on its effective date are authorized and directed
50 to be completed on or before such date.
