Amendment ID: S2769-49

Amendment 49

Task Force on Athletic Training in Secondary Schools

Messrs. Collins, Timilty and Fattman move that the proposed new draft be amended by adding the following new section:

Section XX:  Notwithstanding any special or general law to the contrary, there shall be a task force to study both the benefits and costs of employing an athletic trainer at all high schools in the Commonwealth offering interscholastic athletic activities.  The task force shall consist of 18 members; 2 members who shall be appointed by the senate president, one of whom shall serve as co-chair; 1 member who shall be appointed by the minority leader of the senate; 2 members who shall be appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives, one of whom shall serve as co-chair; 1 member who shall be appointed by the minority leader of the house of representatives; the commissioner of elementary and secondary education or a designee; the commissioner of the department of public health or a designee; the president of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association or a designee; the president of the Athletic Trainers of Massachusetts or a designee; the executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees or a designee; the executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents or a designee; a pediatrician selected by the Massachusetts Chapter of the Academy of Pediatrics; the chief executive officer of the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts, or a designee; the president of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians, or a designee; the director of the Korey Stringer Institute , or a designee; 2 athletic directors to be selected by the executive director of the Massachusetts Secondary Schools Athletic Directors Association, one of whom shall come from a school district larger than 6,000 students, and one of whom shall come from a school district smaller than 3,000 students.

The task force shall: (i) analyze the benefits of medical management by an athletic trainer for concussions, head/neck injuries, cardiac emergencies, heat-related emergencies, respiratory emergencies, musculoskeletal injuries, and the prevention of injuries, re-injuries, or illness; (ii) calculate the impact of these costs on the annual budget of the Commonwealth consider the cost savings associated with employing athletic trainers at secondary schools  to school districts, the state, or parents and guardians of athletes enrolled in secondary schools; (iii) identify the barriers to employing athletic trainers at all secondary schools that offer interscholastic athletic activities; (iv) to the extent possible identify number of reported injuries in the Commonwealth’s secondary schools and whether or not an athletic trainer was present; (v) identify recruitment strategies of athletic trainers to meet the demand of employing athletic trainers at all secondary schools in the Commonwealth that offer interscholastic athletic activities including, but not limited to, programs from clinics, hospitals and universities located within an appropriate distance of schools; (vi) develop an appropriate timeline for a potential mandate or tiered mandate in employing athletic trainers at all secondary schools in the Commonwealth that offer interscholastic athletic activities. (vii) make recommendations relative to the role athletic trainers may play in athlete safety and prevention, the reporting of injuries and illness, the timely treatment of injuries and illness, and a cost analysis benefit of employing athletic trainers at every secondary school offering interscholastic athletic activities.

The task force shall convene its first meeting no later than November 1, 2020 and shall file a report containing its findings and recommendations, with the house and senate committees on ways and means, the house and senate committees on education, and the house and senate committees on public health not later than April 1, 2021.