BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2182|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2182
Author: Mullin (D)
Amended: 5/31/16 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 9-0, 6/22/16
AYES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Huff, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan,
Vidak
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/11/16
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 6/2/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: School athletics: neurocognitive testing
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill, contingent upon an appropriation,
establishes the Neurocognitive Testing Pilot Grant Program to
provide funds to Title I schools for the purpose of
neurocognitive testing. As part of the pilot program, this bill
requires school districts, charter schools, and private schools
that elect to offer sports programs to collect and maintain data
on traumatic brain injuries and concussions sustained during
these activities.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
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1)Requires a school district, charter school, or private school
that elects to offer an athletic program to immediately remove
from athletic activity for the remainder of the day an athlete
who is suspected of sustaining a concussion or head injury.
Prohibits the athlete from returning to the activity until he
or she has been evaluated by a licensed health care provider
and receives a written clearance from the health care
provider.
2)Provides that if the licensed health care provider determines
that the athlete sustained a concussion or a head injury, the
athlete shall complete a graduated return-to-play protocol of
no less than seven days in duration under the supervision of a
licensed health care provider.
3)Requires, annually, a concussion and head injury information
sheet to be signed by the athlete's parent prior to
participation in athletic activity. (Education Code § 49475)
4)Requires each high school sports coach to complete a coaching
education program developed by the employing school district
or the California Interscholastic Federation that meets
specified guidelines. (Education Code § 49032)
5)Requires high school athletic coaches to complete training
regarding the identification of concussions. (Education Code
§ 35179.1)
This bill:
1)Establishes the Neurocognitive Testing Pilot Grant Program to
provide grant funding to Title I schools for the purposes of
neurocognitive testing.
2)Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to
establish 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
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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.
3)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
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.
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d) Reporting to the county office of education 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.
4)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,
motor, and emotion.
5)Requires the CDE to, based on the data collected by the county
office of education 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.
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 operation of this bill is contingent upon
the appropriation of funds in the annual Budget Act or another
statute.
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8)Specifies that the program shall remain in effect until
January 1, 2022, unless a later enacted statute, that is
enacted before January 1, 2022, deletes or extends that date.
9)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
concussions sustained by any of its pupils during an
interscholastic athletic activity. Requires this data to be
reported periodically to the appropriate county office of
education, but provides that the names of the injured pupils
be kept confidential. Requires the county office of education
to compile and retain the data for summary and analysis as it
deems necessary.
Comments
Need for the bill. The author indicates that the number of
reported sports-related concussions among student athletes has
risen dramatically, including a doubling between 2002 and 2012.
Further, "athletes who sustain concussions are at greater risk
of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, depression, early onset
dementia, and long-term brain damage. Research shows that the
human brain does not fully develop until a person's mid-20's and
therefore, young athletes experiencing head injuries are at
greater risk of long-term brain damage if injured during the
critical stages of brain development." This bill is intended
to generate data to provide a better understanding of the
frequency of sports-related head injuries among athletes.
Neurocognitive testing. The bill 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, motor, and emotion. It is used
to evaluate brain processing and 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
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athlete.
Concussions in sports. The dangers of concussions and head
injuries in sports have been a growing concern, with frequent
news reports of athletes, primarily football players, sustaining
traumatic and lasting injuries. A Purdue University study in
2015 indicated lasting brain changes among high school football
players, even without 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. 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.
Limits on practice and full-contact. The California
Interscholastic Federation (CIF) governs competitive athletics
in grades 9-12. The CIF is comprised of 10 Sections across the
State; each Section has a governing body that, among other
things, adopts rules and regulations in addition to those
promulgated by the State CIF. Each Section establishes its own
rules governing the scope of team practice. It appears that
five of the Sections allow football teams to conduct
full-contact practice during the off-season while five do not
allow full-contact practice during the off-season. For example,
the Sac-Joaquin Section allows full-contact football camp during
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the summer and the Southern Section prohibits full-contact
practice or camps during the summer.
The CIF recently adopted Bylaw 506 which, effective August 1,
2014, limits all athletic teams to no more than 18 hours of
practice time per week and no more than four hours in any single
day.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, this bill
would result in the following:
Unknown cost pressure to implement this pilot as costs would
depend on the size of the school districts awarded. Costs
likely in the tens of thousands to low hundreds of thousands
annually, unless the Los Angeles Unified School District is
awarded, which would increase costs to about $2 million.
The CDE estimates costs of about $252,000 spanning across
several positions over the life of the pilot for start-up
activities, administering the program, and the reporting
requirement if the program were to be funded. (General Fund)
Cost pressure, potentially in the hundreds of thousands, for
all school districts and charter schools that offer an
interscholastic athletic program to collect, maintain, and
report data on traumatic brain injuries and concussions.
Potential minor reimbursable state mandate costs for county
offices of education to compile and retain the data.
(Proposition 98)
Significant cost pressure to the extent the pilot is funded,
to subsequently expand it statewide. (Proposition 98)
SUPPORT: (Verified8/12/16)
California Athletics Trainers' Association
California Concussion Institute
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California Optometric Association
California Psychological Association
Consumer Attorneys of California
San Mateo Union High School District
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/12/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 6/2/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth
Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto,
Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper,
Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim,
Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis,
Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte,
O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
Prepared by:Lenin DelCastillo / ED. / (916) 651-4105
8/15/16 19:39:46
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