BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 212
AUTHOR: Florez
AMENDED: April 15, 2009
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 22, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Lynn Lorber
NOTE: This bill has been referred to the Committees on
Education and Health. A "do pass" motion should include
referral to the Committee on Health.
SUBJECT : Communicable Diseases: methicillin resistant
Staphylococcus
aureus (MRSA).
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes each school district with a high
school to provide for the annual cleaning and sterilizing
of wrestling equipment, and requires the Superintendent of
Public Instruction to develop information and guidelines
regarding the prevention of communicable diseases at
schools.
BACKGROUND
Current law:
1) Requires the governing board of each district
maintaining a high school to provide for the annual
cleaning, sterilizing and necessary repair of football
equipment of their respective schools.
2) Requires all football equipment actually worn by
pupils to be cleaned and sterilized at least once a
year, and requires football equipment used in spring
training to be cleaned and sterilized before it is
used in the succeeding fall term.
The California Department of Public Health produced "A
Parent's Guide to MRSA in California: What You Need to
Know," which is available on the website of the California
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Department of Education (CDE) and has been translated into
23 languages (all available on the CDE's website).
The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) provides
information (warning signs, prevention and a policies and
procedures checklist) relative to methicillin resistant
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) to K-12 coaches, athletic
directors and administrators. CIF's Sports Medicine
Handbook also contains information about MRSA.
The 2007-08 National Federation of State High School
Associations Wrestling Rules Book contains guidelines to
reduce the incidence and spread of communicable skin
conditions among wrestlers.
All sources providing information and guidance stress that
frequent washing/showering and sterilization of sports
equipment should be adhered to in order to minimize the
risk of infection.
ANALYSIS
This bill authorizes each school district with a high
school to provide for the annual cleaning and sterilizing
of wrestling equipment. Specifically, this bill:
1) Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI) to develop information and guidelines regarding
the prevention of communicable diseases at schools and
submit the information and guidelines to the State
Board of Education (SBE) for approval.
2) Requires the information and guidelines, at a minimum,
to address the maintenance of locker rooms, athletic
equipment, and synthetic ground covers used for
athletic fields, and ways to minimize the spread and
methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and
meningococcal disease.
3) Requires the SPI to post the approved guidelines on
the website of the California Department of Education
(CDE).
4) Authorizes wrestling equipment used multiple years to
be cleaned and sterilized pursuant to information and
guidelines developed by the SPI and approved by the
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SBE.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) MRSA. In September 2002, the Los Angeles County
Department of Health Services investigated two cases
of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
among members of a college football team. There have
been numerous reports of MRSA infections in football
and rugby players and wrestlers throughout the
country. As its name indicates, MRSA is not killed by
penicillin and similar antibiotics. MRSA can be
deadly. If MRSA is a significant health threat,
should the SPI be more proactive in dispersing
information to schools in addition to placing
information on the CDE website?
2) Why wrestling ? The National Federation of State High
School Associations has identified football and
wrestling as the two "high risk" sports for skin
infections. Current law addresses the sterilization
of football equipment but is silent about wrestling
equipment or locker rooms.
3) Synthetic athletic fields . This bill requires the
Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop
information and guidelines that address, among other
things, the maintenance of synthetic ground covers
used for athletic fields. Some schools are installing
synthetic fields to save water and maintenance of
grass fields. Some concerns have been raised about
the safety of the synthetic material in relation to
MRSA. However, the California Interscholastic
Federation's Sports Medicine Alert regarding MRSA
purports that "research is inconclusive on whether
athletic fields can harbor MRSA bacteria. Since some
studies have shown that possibility exists, there are
companies that offer anti-microbial treatments for
athletic fields."
SUPPORT
None received.
OPPOSITION
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None received.