BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2182
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
2182 (Mullin)
As Amended May 31, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Education |7-0 |O'Donnell, Olsen, | |
| | |Kim, McCarty, | |
| | |Santiago, Thurmond, | |
| | |Weber | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Arts |7-0 |Chu, Obernolte, | |
| | |Hadley, Levine, Low, | |
| | |Medina, Nazarian | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Roger | |
| | |Hernández, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Obernolte, | |
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
AB 2182
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| | |Wagner, Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Establishes the Neurocognitive Testing Pilot Grant
Program to provide grant funding to Title I schools for the
purposes of neurocognitive testing. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to
develop an application process for school districts to apply
on behalf of Title I schools interested in participating in
the pilot program. Requires the grants to be apportioned
under the pilot program to a total of three school districts,
which shall comprise one school district in each of the
following regions of the state: southern, central, and
northern. Requires each school district to commit to
participating in the pilot program for four school years in
order to track pupils tested in grade 9 through completion of
high school.
2)Requires the grant funds to be used for the following:
a) Baseline and postinjury neurocognitive testing of pupils
attending a Title I school serving any of grades nine to
12, inclusive, participating in interscholastic athletics
in any of the following sports: baseball, basketball,
cheerleading, field hockey, football, ice hockey, lacrosse,
rugby, soccer, softball, volleyball, and wrestling. The
baseline neurocognitive testing shall take place at the
beginning of an athletic season before any competitions
have taken place and after any head injury, and shall be
repeated at intervals not exceeding 24 months for as long
as the athlete is enrolled at the school, provided that the
athlete is still participating in one or more of the 12
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specified sports. The baseline and postinjury
neurocognitive testing shall be administered by individuals
who have been trained to administer these tests. These
individuals may include, but are not necessarily limited
to, employees of a participating school district.
b) Postinjury neurocognitive testing of an athlete who is
suspected of sustaining a concussion or head injury in an
interscholastic athletic activity. Postinjury
neurocognitive tests shall be conducted within 72 hours of
the occurrence of the injury.
c) Training of personnel or to consult with experts on the
interpretation of postinjury test results. The parent or
guardian of each athlete participating in any of the sports
shall also be notified, in writing, that the results of
baseline and postinjury neurocognitive testing conducted on
his or her child are available to the child's parent or
guardian upon request. These neurocognitive testing
results may also be shared with the athlete's physician
upon the request of the athlete's parent or guardian.
d) Reporting to the county office of education (COE) data
that includes an overview of the baseline neurocognitive
testing conducted for each of the sports specified in the
bill and an overview of normal, abnormal, and follow-up
postinjury neurocognitive tests. The data shall also
include the number of athletes who discontinue
participation in the sport following a concussion and
postinjury testing.
3)Defines "neurocognitive testing" as a comprehensive evaluation
of a person's cognitive status by specific neurologic domains,
including, but not necessarily limited to, memory, attention,
problem solving, language, visuospatial, processing speed,
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motor, and emotion.
4)Requires the CDE to, based on the data collected by the COE
located in the area of participating school districts, prepare
a report including, but not necessarily limited to, all of the
following information:
a) The number of athletes who received the baseline tests.
b) The number of athletes who received the postinjury
tests.
c) The number of athletes who had taken the tests and
discontinued participation in any of the specified sports
due to concussion injuries.
5)Specifies that the operation of this bill is contingent upon
the appropriation of funds in the annual Budget Act or another
statute.
6)Requires the report to be submitted to the appropriate policy
committees of the Legislature on or before December 31, 2021,
and to comply with Government Code Section 9795.
7)Specifies that the pilot program sunsets and repeals on
January 1, 2022, unless a later enacted statute, that is
enacted before January 1, 2022, deletes or extends that date.
8)Requires a school district, charter school, or private school
that elects to offer an interscholastic athletic program to
collect and maintain data on traumatic brain injuries and
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concussions sustained by any of its pupils during an
interscholastic athletic activity. Requires this data to be
reported periodically to the appropriate COE, but requires the
names of the injured pupils to be kept confidential. Requires
the COE to compile and retain the data for summary and
analysis as it deems necessary.
FISCAL: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
1)Proposition 98/General Fund cost pressures, potentially in the
tens of thousands to fund the pilot program. The program is
contingent upon an appropriation in the budget act.
2)General Fund costs to the CDE of approximately $264,000 to
administer the grant program for four years. The CDE would be
required to develop, implement, monitor, collect and analyze
data, and prepare reports to the Legislature on the findings
for each grant awarded.
3)Unknown, potentially reimbursable Proposition 98/General Fund
state mandated costs, likely in the thousands of dollars, for
county offices of education to compile and retain data for
summary and analysis.
COMMENTS: The author states that the number of reported
sports-related concussions among student athletes has risen
dramatically, including a doubling between 2002 and 2012. The
author adds, "Athletes who sustain concussions are at greater
risk of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, depression, early
onset dementia, and long-term brain damage," and that, "young
athletes experiencing head injuries are at greater risk of
long-term brain damage if injured during the critical stages of
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brain development." The author hopes that broader
neurocognitive testing will assist in the evaluation of
individual injuries and identify the incidence of sport-related
concussions among young athletes.
Neurocognitive testing is used to evaluate brain processing in a
variety of neurological functions related to memory, attention,
language, emotion and other areas. Testing can be conducted
with pencil and paper, or with computerized testing. Testing
can be used as a baseline to gauge an athlete's condition
post-injury relative to performance before injury. As such, it
can be a factor in making decisions as to whether and when an
athlete should return to activity and what kinds of activity may
be safe for that athlete.
The dangers of concussions and head injuries in sport have been
a growing concern, with frequent news reports of athletes,
primarily football players, sustaining traumatic and lasting
injuries.
Among the dramatic news reports in March alone:
1)A representative of the National Football League testified
that there is a connection between football and chronic
traumatic encephalopathy.
2)Women's soccer standout Brandi Chastain announced she would
donate her brain to science for research into head injuries.
3)Ivy League schools announced they would eliminate full-contact
practices for football.
A Purdue University study in 2015 indicated lasting brain
changes among high school football players, even without
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concussions, and that changes were not completely healed at the
end of an off-season. The study used brain scans and changes in
brain chemistry to track players more extensively than
neurocognitive testing.
The growing awareness of concussion dangers has led California
to enact a series of bills to protect students by limiting
full-contact practices; requiring education and information for
coaches, pupils and their parents; and protocols for removing
students from activity after injury and for returning them to
play.
A few school districts in San Mateo County have sought stronger
protections for student athletes and have, in some cases, paid
for neurocognitive testing. Following on this, the San Mateo
County Civil Grand Jury studied the issue and recommended, among
other things, that all districts in the county serving high
school students provide neurocognitive testing for all student
athletes, and recommended that the districts seek funding and
collect data. The grand jury report noted that a leading
purveyor of the tests charges school districts $1,200 for 800
baseline tests. These tests are computerized, with results
received automatically by the testing company.
This bill establishes a pilot program for schools in three
districts (northern, central, and southern) to test athletes in
specified sports, track the pupils for four years, and collect
data to evaluate the effectiveness of neurocognitive testing.
Amendments adopted in the Assembly Appropriations Committee
limit participation to schools that receive federal Title I
funds. Title I provides supplemental funding to schools with
the highest percentage of low-income children. According to the
CDE, in 2014-15, there were 3.9 million students in 6,457
schools that received Title 1 funds. This bill also requires
school districts, charter schools and private schools that elect
to offer interscholastic sports to collect and report data on
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traumatic brain injuries and concussions.
Analysis Prepared by:
Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN:
0003350