BILL NUMBER: AB 25 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Hayashi
DECEMBER 6, 2010
An act to amend Sections 35179.1 and 49032 of, and to add Section
49475 to, the Education Code, relating to high school athletics.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 25, as introduced, Hayashi. High school athletics.
(1) Existing law states the intent of the Legislature to establish
a California High School Coaching Education and Training Program to
be administered by school districts and to emphasize, among other
things, training and certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation
and first aid. Existing law requires each high school sports coach to
complete a coaching education program developed by his or her school
district or the California Interscholastic Federation that meets
specified guidelines. Existing law makes a high school sports coach
responsible for the costs of taking the prescribed course. Existing
law prohibits a high school sports coach who does not complete a
coaching education program from coaching for more than one season of
interscholastic competition.
This bill, commencing December 31, 2012, would require all high
school sports coaches taking or renewing first aid certification to
take training that includes, among other things, a basic recognition
of the signs, symptoms, and appropriate emergency action steps
regarding potentially catastrophic injuries, including, but not
limited to, head and neck injuries, concussions, and 2nd impact
syndrome. To the extent that this bill would create additional
requirements for school districts relating to this training, it would
impose a state-mandated local program.
(2) Existing law authorizes school districts to provide specified
medical services in connection with athletic events that are under
the jurisdiction of, or sponsored or controlled by, school districts.
These services include medical or hospital insurance for pupils
injured while participating in athletic activities and ambulance
service for pupils, instructors, spectators, and other individuals in
attendance at athletic activities.
This bill would require a school district that elects to offer
interscholastic athletic programs to immediately remove from a
school-sponsored athletic activity a high school athlete who is
suspected of sustaining a concussion or head injury during that
activity and would prohibit the return of the pupil to that activity
until he or she is evaluated by, and receives written clearance from,
a licensed health care provider and his or her parent or guardian,
as specified.
(3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 35179.1 of the Education Code is amended to
read:
35179.1. (a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the
1998 California High School Coaching Education and Training Program.
(b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) The exploding demand in girls athletics, and an
increase in the number of pupils participating in
both boys and girls pupils who participate in high
school athletics , are causing an
requires a corresponding statewide increase in the number of
coaches needed statewide .
(2) Well-trained coaches are vital to the success of the
experience of a pupil in sports and interscholastic athletic
activities pupil athletes .
(3) Improvement in coaching is a primary need identified
by hundreds Hundreds of principals,
superintendents, and school board members who
participated in the development of developing
a strategic plan for in conjunction
with the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF)
in 1993 and 1994 and identified coaching improvement
as a vital investment .
(4) There are many concerns about safety, training, organization,
philosophy, communications, and general management in coaching that
need to be addressed.
(5) It is a conservative estimate that at least 25,000 coaches
annually need training and an orientation just to meet current
coaching regulations contained in Title 5 of the California Code of
Regulations, including basic safety and CPR requirements.
(6)
(5) School districts, in conjunction with the
California Interscholastic Federation, have taken the initial first
steps toward building a statewide coaching education program by
assembling a faculty of statewide trainers composed of school
district administrators, coaches, and athletic directors using a
national program being used in several states.
(6) Concussions are a serious and growing public health concern,
especially for athletes participating in contact sports.
(7) Concussions can be difficult to detect and, along with other
serious head injuries, can have long-term effects, including suicide,
depression, memory loss, sleep disorders, impairments in attention,
and motor deficits. The effects of these injuries, while not all
preventable, can be mitigated by prompt recognition and appropriate
response.
(8) The competitive interscholastic athletic culture of playing
through pain or "toughing it out" puts pupil athletes at serious
risk.
(9) Concussions have a cumulative effect. Allowing an athlete to
return to play too early after a concussion increases the chance of
more serious brain injury. A concussion can cause rapid brain
swelling that can result in coma or even death.
(10) Currently, coaches, pupil athletes, and parents of pupil
athletes lack appropriate awareness about the prevention,
identification, and treatment of concussions.
(11) According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, at least 3,000,000 sports- and recreation-related
concussions occur in the United States each year.
(c) It is, therefore, the intent of the Legislature to establish a
California High School Coaching Education and Training Program. It
is the intent of the Legislature that the program be administered by
local school districts and emphasize the following components:
(1) Development of coaching philosophies consistent with the
goals of the school, school district, and school board
goals governing board of the school district .
(2) Sport psychology: emphasizing communication, reinforcement of
the efforts of young people, effective delivery of coaching regarding
technique , and motivation of the pupil athlete.
(3) Sport pedagogy: how young athletes learn, and how to teach
sport skills.
(4) Sport physiology: principles of training, fitness for sport,
development of a training program, nutrition for athletes, and the
harmful effects associated with the use of steroids and
performance-enhancing dietary supplements by adolescents.
(5) Sport management: team management, risk management, and
working within the context of an entire school program.
(6) Training: certification in CPR and first aid.
(6) Training provided by the American Red Cross, the American
Heart Association, or another organization that provides equivalent
training and certification in all of the following areas:
(A) Valid and current certification in CPR.
(B) Valid and current certification in first aid that includes a
basic recognition of the signs, symptoms, and appropriate emergency
action steps regarding potentially catastrophic injuries, including,
but not limited to, head and neck injuries, concussions, and second
impact syndrome.
(C) Emergency action planning.
(7) Knowledge of, and adherence to, statewide rules and
regulations, as well as school regulations including, but not
necessarily limited to, eligibility, gender equity , and
discrimination.
(8) Sound planning and goal setting.
(d) This section does not endorse a particular coaching education
or training program.
SEC. 2. Section 49032 of the Education Code is amended to read:
49032. (a) (1) Effective December 31, 2008, each high school
sports coach shall have completed a coaching education program
developed by his or her school district or the California
Interscholastic Federation that meets the guidelines set forth in
Section 35179.1. Commencing on December 31, 2012, each high
school sports coach taking or renewing his or her first aid
certification shall meet the guidelines set forth in paragraph (6) of
subdivision (c) of Section 35179.1.
(2) The coaching education program described by paragraph (1) may
be taught by an athletic director or high school sports coach who is
deemed to be qualified by the California Interscholastic Federation.
(b) Upon completion of the coaching education program,
a high school sports coach shall be deemed to have completed the
education requirement for the remainder of his or her time coaching
at the high school level in any school district in the state.
(c) Each high school sports coach shall be responsible for the
costs of taking the course coaching education
program .
(d) The training requirements of this section shall count toward
the continuing education required for the renewal of the teaching
credential of a coach who is also a certificated employee.
(e) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a high school sports coach
who does not meet the requirements of subdivision (a) may be used for
no longer than one season of interscholastic competition.
(f) For the purposes of this section, "high school sports coach"
means an employee or a volunteer who is authorized by a high school
to be responsible for leading a school sports team of pupil athletes.
SEC. 3. Section 49475 is added to the Education Code, to read:
49475. If a school district elects to offer any interscholastic
athletic programs, the school district shall immediately remove from
any school-sponsored athletic activity any high school athlete who is
suspected of sustaining a concussion or head injury. Following the
removal, the pupil shall not be permitted to return to the activity
until he or she is evaluated by a licensed health care provider
trained in the evaluation and management of concussions, acting
within the scope of his or her practice, and receives written
clearance to return to play from that health care provider and from
his or her parent or guardian.
SEC. 4. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.