District 204 approves concussion oversight team

As the school board in Indian Prairie Unit District 204 approved the state-mandated creation of a concussion oversight team, board members focused on the role of coaches and the effects on learning caused by concussions.

Creating a concussion oversight team meets a state requirement to do so before next school year. The team is required to approve return-to-play and return-to-learn protocols to be followed whenever a student suffers a concussion.

Louis Lee, assistant superintendent for high schools, said the district already has in place many of the elements of the new state law Gov. Bruce Rauner signed in August, such as concussion training for coaches. But now the 16-member concussion oversight team will have regular meetings to review such trainings, policies and procedures for post-concussion response.

"The oversight team exists to establish a return-to-play protocol and a return-to-learn protocol," Lee said.

He said doctors, athletic trainers and school nurses are involved in approving when a student-athlete can be cleared to play again after a concussion.

But school board member Benjamin White said he wants coaches' opinions to be included in decisions as well because they have the best information about what happened to cause the concussion. In the case of a football concussion, White said the coach would know how many hits the player took, and that input should be considered.

Lee said coaches remain part of the process, but they aren't allowed to make the final decision about when a student-athlete can return to protect from conflicts of interest between the player's health and his or her importance to the team.

School board President Lori Price said she'll ask for regular reports from the oversight team to determine how widespread concussions are in the district, how soon student-athletes are returning to play and how soon they're returning to their studies.

So far this school year among District 204's 28,500 students, there have been 141 reported concussions. Of those, 83 happened to students at Metea, Neuqua or Waubonsie valley high schools and 58 affected students at the district's middle schools. Lee said these include sports-related concussions and injuries suffered outside of school or in other circumstances.

As concern increases, Price said the biggest value of the new oversight team will be its focus on the academic effects of concussive brain injuries.

"There's a lot of emphasis on return-to-play," Price said. "I'm concerned about return-to-learn."

Price and Lee said the challenge is students who have suffered concussions appear fine physically before their brains are recovered well enough to allow complete classroom learning. Sometimes students need accommodations such as lower levels of lighting during their concussion recovery, and Lee said he'll work with teachers to make sure they understand those needs.

"These concussions are happening not just to kids who are playing sports - they happen a lot," Price said. "It's having sometimes an adverse effect on learning not only on the sport."