Bill would standardize high-school sports-injury logs and require annual, deidentified reporting to MSDE
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Summary
Delegate Roberts said HB1097 would require schools to log sports injuries with basic facts, retain logs five years, and submit deidentified annual aggregated reports to MSDE beginning in 2027 to identify disparities and guide training and equipment investments.
Delegate Roberts presented House Bill 10-97 to create a standardized statewide framework for recording high-school sports injuries and for annual deidentified reporting to the Maryland State Department of Education.
Roberts said the bill requires schools to record the date/time, sport, general injury description and body part, whether it happened in practice or competition, whether the student was removed from play and for how long, whether medical care was given or recommended, who documented it, and when the student was cleared to return. Logs would be entered within 24 hours, retained for at least five years, and aggregated by local systems for MSDE review beginning July 1, 2027.
The sponsor emphasized a tiered approach so nonmedical staff record objective facts while athletic trainers or nurses add diagnosis and clearance where available: "This is no heavier lift than the centralized systems we already use for immunizations and student information," Roberts said. Supporters argued consistent data would allow identification of disparities and improve targeting of trainers and equipment to reduce harm.
The hearing concluded with no questions and a request for a favorable report.
