BILL ANALYSIS
SB 212
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 8, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
SB 212 (Florez) - As Amended: May 18, 2009
SENATE VOTE : 31-7
SUBJECT : Pupil health: communicable disease.
SUMMARY : 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 (SPI) to develop information and guidelines
regarding the prevention of communicable diseases at school
sites. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the 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 for approval; and, requires the SPI to post the
approved guidelines on the California Department of Education
(CDE) website.
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; and,
specifies that the information and guidelines shall also
include, but not be limited to, information provided to school
staff, including classified employees, for training and
information to minimize the spread of MRSA and meningococcal
disease.
EXISTING LAW 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; and, requires football equipment used in
spring training to be cleaned and sterilized before it is used
in the succeeding fall term. (Education Code 17578 and 17579)
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
SB 212
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COMMENTS : What is MRSA? MRSA is a bacteria that is more
difficult to treat than most regular strains of Staph because it
is resistant to commonly used antibiotics. MRSA can cause mild
to serious skin infections. Though most MRSA infections are not
serious, some can be life-threatening. Many public health
experts are alarmed by the recent spread of tough strains of
MRSA.
A 2007 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey of high
school athletic trainers found that 53% reported treating MRSA
in football athletes. School locker rooms and contact through
athletics can offer a perfect environment for the transmission
of MRSA. Spending time in close quarters with other athletes,
for example during training camps, can also increase the risk of
MRSA infection in athletes. Unfortunately, schools can
sometimes provide the perfect transmission for fatal
communicable diseases. This bill could help combat the
increased risks for infection of MRSA by encouraging school
districts to sterilize wrestling equipment in the same manner
they currently provide for football equipment.
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 CDE website. The guide states that MRSA can be
spread by direct skin to skin contact with an infected person or
from skin contact with surfaces that have MRSA infection on
them, such as towels and athletic equipment. The guide also
specifies that "cleaning and disinfection should be done on
surfaces that are likely to contact uncovered or poorly covered
infections."
Why wrestling ? The National Federation of State High School
Associations has identified football and wrestling as the two
"high risk" sports for skin infections. 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. The guidelines
make it unacceptable for wrestlers to share common towels, to
leave school without showering after practice or competition, to
wear their practice clothes home, to practice or compete without
having a daily skin check, to enter the practice room without
wearing clean workout clothes and for mats not to be cleaned
with a disinfectant cleaner at least once a day. From this, it
seems clear that frequent washing/showering and sterilization of
sports equipment should be adhered to in order to minimize the
SB 212
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risk of infection. The California Interscholastic Federation
(CIF) has adopted the National Federation of State High School
Associations guidelines with regard to wrestling and concerns
about MRSA infection. CIF has adopted the requirement for
athletes to have a skin check prior to competition and
recommends districts follow the guidelines adopted by the
National Federation (outlined above) but does not require
districts follow those guidelines as part of competition, except
for the skin check.
Tragically in July 2008, a wrestler from Downey High School in
Los Angeles County died from MRSA after returning home from a
wrestling camp. In recent years there have been numerous
reports of MRSA infections in student athletes throughout the
country. With further emphasis placed on cleaning athletic
equipment, hopefully the number and severity of these tragic
MRSA infections can be reduced.
Synthetic Athletic Fields . This bill requires the SPI 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, CIF'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."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California School Employees Association
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087