Policy 7:305
Student Athlete Concussions and Head Injuries
The Superintendent or designee shall develop and implement a program to manage
concussions and head injuries suffered by students. The program shall:
- Fully implement the Youth Sports Concussion Safety Act, that provides,
without limitation, each of the following:
- The Board must appoint or approve members of a Concussion Oversight
Team for the District.
- The Concussion Oversight Team shall establish each of the following based
on peer-reviewed scientific evidence consistent with guidelines from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
- A return-to-play protocol governing a student’s return to
interscholastic athletics practice or competition following a force of
impact believed to have caused a concussion. The Superintendent or
designee shall supervise an athletic trainer or other person responsible
for compliance with the return-to-play protocol.
- A return-to-learn protocol governing a student’s return to the
classroom following a force of impact believed to have caused a
concussion. The Superintendent or designee shall supervise the person
responsible for compliance with the return-to-learn protocol.
- Each student and the student’s parent/guardian shall be required to sign a
concussion information form each school year before participating in an
interscholastic athletic activity acknowledging that they have received and
read written information that explains concussion prevention, symptoms,
treatment, and oversight and that includes guidelines for safely resuming
participation in an athletic activity following a concussion.
- A student shall be removed from an interscholastic athletic practice or
competition immediately if any of the following individuals believes that the
student sustained a concussion during the practice or competition: a coach,
a physician, a game official, an athletic trainer, the student’s
parent/guardian, the student, or any other person deemed appropriate
under the return-to-play protocol.
- A student who was removed from interscholastic athletic practice or
competition shall be allowed to return only after all statutory prerequisites
are completed, including without limitation, the return-to-play and return-to-learn
protocols developed by the Concussion Oversight Team. An
interscholastic athletic team coach or assistant coach may not authorize a
student’s return-to-play or return-to-learn.
- The following individuals must complete concussion training as specified in the Youth Sports Concussion Safety Act: all coaches or assistant coaches
(whether volunteer or a district employee) of interscholastic athletic
activities; nurses who serve on the Concussion Oversight Team; athletic
trainers; game officials of interscholastic athletic activities; and physicians
who serve on the Concussion Oversight Team.
- The Board shall approve school-specific emergency action plans as
specified in the Youth Sports Concussion Safety Act for interscholastic
athletic activities to address the serious injuries and acute medical
conditions in which a student’s condition may deteriorate rapidly.
- Require all student athletes to view the Illinois High School Association’s video
about concussions.
- Inform student athletes and their parents/guardians about this policy in the
Agreement to Participate or other written instrument that a student athlete and
his or her parent/guardian must sign before the student is allowed to
participate in a practice or interscholastic competition.
Adopted: October 28, 2013
Revised: May 22, 2017