Testimony to Md State Board of Education, 12/17/2012
Content
Maryland
State
Board
of
Education
Regular
Meeting,
December
17,
2012
Public
Comment
Testimony
of
Tom
Hearn
Updated
12-19-12
Good
Morning
Board
President
Dukes
and
Members
of
the
Board.
I
am
Tom
Hearn
and
I
am
a
parent
of
high
school
students
in
Montgomery
County,
Maryland.
Back
in
May,
I
testified
before
the
State
Board
raising
concerns
I
had
about
concussions
in
high
school
sports.1
I
point
out
that
my
concerns
were
shared
by
over
150
people
who
provided
written
comments
in
support
of
the
State
Board
responding
to
this
issue.
I
want
to
express
my
gratitude
to
how
responsive
the
State
Board
was
to
these
concerns.
At
the
following
meeting,
the
State
Board
received
a
briefing
from
staff
and
at
the
meeting
after
that
adopted
emergency
regulations
and
formed
a
task
force
to
examine
and
make
recommendations
to
you
about:
(1)
best
practices
in
concussion
awareness;
(2)
policies
and
procedures
to
follow
when
a
concussion
is
suspected;
and
(3)
sport-‐specific
ways
to
prevent
concussions
from
happening
in
the
first
place.
Enhanced
Public
Participation
and
Transparency
for
State
Board
Meetings
Based
on
my
very
positive
experience
with
the
State
Board,
I
would
like
to
make
recommendations
about
how
the
State
Board
may
further
enhance
public
participation
and
increase
transparency
about
the
Board’s
activities.
Some
of
these
recommendations
would
align
the
State
Board’s
practices
with
those
in
some
of
the
24
Maryland
local
boards
of
education
as
well
as
those
of
other
State
Boards
of
Education,
including
the
Delaware
Board
of
Education,
with
which
Superintendent
Lowery
is
no
doubt
familiar.
1.
Provide
Links
to
Video
Recording
of
State
Board
Meetings
at
the
MSDE
Website
The
State
Board’s
website
does
not
appear
to
currently
provide
a
live
video
feed
to
its
meetings
or
a
link
to
recordings
of
previous
State
Board
meetings.
Most
local
school
systems
make
video
recordings
of
their
meetings
available
at
their
website.
The
Virginia
State
Board
of
Education
also
follows
this
practice.
The
Delaware
State
Board
provides
a
link
to
an
audio
recording.
1
http://www.scribd.com/doc/112672541/sports-‐concussions-‐parent-‐testimony-‐to-‐md-‐state-‐bd-‐of-‐ ed-‐may-‐22-‐2012
http://www.doe.k12.de.us/infosuites/ddoe/sbe/sbeaudio.shtml
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/boe/meetings/index.shtml
Please
consider
providing
such
access
to
recordings
of
meetings.
2.
Allow
Board
Members
to
Ask
Questions
of
Public
Commenters
The
minutes
of
the
State
Board’s
retreat
last
year
on
October
26,
2011
reflect
a
discussion
about
whether
State
Board
members
should
be
permitted
to
ask
questions
of
public
commenters.
Board
members
discussed
the
issue
of
its
policy
regarding
“Public
Comments”
on
the
Board’s
agenda.
Ms.
Staton
[State
Board
member
Donna
Hill
Staton]
expressed
her
concern
that
Board
members
are
unable
to
respond
to
those
giving
public
comment.
Tony
South
[Staff
Director
to
the
State
Board]
reported
that
staff
members
follow
up
with
those
who
comment
to
provide
support
if
needed.
Ms.
Kameen
[Maryland
Attorney
General
Supervisor
Counsel
who
advises
the
State
Board]
said
that
a
call
from
a
staff
member
or
Board
member
about
a
specific
issue
that
may
be
brought
up
during
public
comment
would
be
very
helpful.2
While
as
reflected
in
the
minutes
it
is
true
that
MSDE
staff
can
follow
up
with
public
commenters
and
then
report
back
to
Board
members,
it
would
appear
to
be
more
efficient
if
Board
members
were
able
to
ask
questions
of
public
commenters
at
the
time
of
the
testimony.
In
Montgomery
County,
the
local
school
board
expressly
allows
Board
members
to
ask
questions
of
public
commenters
and
board
members
often
do
so.
I
respectfully
request
that
the
State
Board
consider
amending
its
current
policy
and
permit
Board
members
to
ask
questions
during
public
comment.
3.
Move
Public
Comment
to
Near
the
Beginning
of
the
Meeting
Agenda
The
State
Board
currently
schedules
public
comment
toward
the
end
of
its
meeting
agenda.
State
Board
meetings
sometimes
get
ahead
of
schedule.
While
public
commenters
are
told
to
arrive
at
least
30
minutes
before
the
time
scheduled
for
public
testimony,
it
may
provide
public
commenters
with
a
more
reliable
starting
time
if
the
State
Board
aligned
with
other
Boards
and
scheduled
public
comment
nearer
to
the
beginning
of
each
meeting.
2http://www.scribd.com/doc/173838957/Md-‐St-‐Bd-‐of-‐Ed-‐Minutes-‐of-‐October-‐10-‐25-‐2011-‐
meeting
2
As
in
most
local
school
systems,
the
Delaware
Board
of
Education
and
the
Virginia
Board
of
Education
schedule
public
comment
nearer
to
the
beginning
of
each
meeting.
https://eboard.eboardsolutions.com/Meetings/ViewMeetingOrder.aspx?S=190001 &MID=280
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/boe/meetings/2012/11_nov/agenda.shtml
Please
consider
moving
public
comment
toward
the
beginning
of
the
agenda
at
each
meeting.
4.
Attached
Written
Public
Comment
Testimony
to
Minutes
of
Board
Meetings
For
members
of
the
public
who
share
an
interest
in
a
topic
that
was
the
subject
of
testimony
provided
during
public
comment,
it
would
be
helpful
to
see
the
actual
testimony
rather
than
just
a
summary
of
it
in
the
meeting
minutes.
I
respectfully
recommend
that
the
Board
consider
attaching
copies
of
written
testimony
of
public
commenters
to
the
minutes
of
meetings
at
which
the
testimony
is
given.
5.
Link
Staff
Memorandum
Regarding
Agenda
Items
to
Meeting
Agendas
At
the
May
meeting
where
the
Board
discussed
the
discipline
policy,
the
meeting
agenda
included
a
link
to
the
related
staff
memorandum.
In
many
local
school
systems,
a
link
to
such
staff
memoranda
are
regularly
provided.
I
would
respectfully
recommend
that
the
State
Board
consider
expanding
this
practice.
Concussion
Task
Force
I
want
to
express
my
appreciation
to
concussion
task
force
Co-‐Chairs
Alicia
Mezu
and
Ned
Sparks
for
allowing
me
to
observe
the
Task
Force’s
in-‐person
meetings.
As
Ms.
Mezu
and
Mr.
Sparks
get
ready
to
provide
the
task
force’s
report
to
you,
I
would
like
to
point
out
a
few
issues
that
appear
to
require
further
staff
attention,
and
may
already
be
on
the
radar.
The
Emergency
Regulation
Expires
February
4,
2013—It
would
be
helpful
if
the
State
Board
extended
the
emergency
regulation
to
maintain
the
status
quo.
Please
note
the
edit
I
have
suggested
to
the
removal
from
play
provision
to
align
it
with
long
standing
best
practices
and
to
eliminate
what
was
likely
an
unintended
error
by
the
2011
concussion
working
group
that
got
repeated
into
the
emergency
regulations.
3
Two
Legal
Issues:
• Dr.
Walks
July
24,
2012
Comments
About
Scope
of
Practice—Dr.
Walks
comments
regarding
the
emergency
regulations
reference
to
“licensed
health
care
provider”
raise
fairly
complex
questions
of
statutory
interpretation
and
administrative
law.
From
the
task
force’s
deliberation,
it
was
not
clear
that
these
issues
have
been
teed
up
for
the
Attorney
General’s
office
to
provide
advice.
• Legal
Authority
for
Local
School
Board
to
Conduct
Interscholastic
Sports
o Relation
to
Liability
Immunity
for
Staff
and
Local
School
Systems
Other
Issues
Regarding
the
Task
Force’s
Upcoming
Report
Survey
of
Current
Practices
in
Maryland’s
24
Local
School
Systems
When
I
testified
to
the
State
Board
back
in
May,
I
was
responding
to
my
experience
with
the
weak
policies
and
practices
for
dealing
with
sports
concussions
in
Montgomery
County.
I
had
I
assumed
that
Montgomery
County
was
representative
of
practices
throughout
the
State.
To
help
the
task
force
make
recommendations
to
you
that
are
tailored,
not
only
to
best
practices
across
the
country
but
also
to
current
practices
within
the
State,
I
conducted
an
informal
survey
of
concussion
practices
in
Maryland’s
24
school
systems.
Attached
is
a
chart
reflecting
the
results
of
this
survey
as
well
as
maps
of
the
Maryland
Counties
and
Baltimore
City
that
are
shaded
to
reflect
the
survey
results.
(Attachments
B).
The
survey
revealed
varying
levels
of
alignment
with
best
practices
in
dealing
with
sports
concussions.
• Long-Standing
Strong
Programs
in
Howard
and
Carroll
Counties.
Harford,
Frederick,
Anne
Arundel,
also
appear
to
have
take
sports
concussion
and
other
safety
issues
very
seriously.
If
the
State
Board
were
to
adopt
the
Massachusetts
Department
of
Public
Health
concussion
regulations,
which
appear
to
be
the
strongest
in
the
U.S.,
these
local
school
systems
would
likely
meet,
and
in
some
instances,
exceed
those
requirements.
• Howard
County
Limits
on
Full
Contact
Practices
in
Football.
• Montgomery
County:
A
Consistent
Outlier.
As
shown
on
the
attachments,
the
Montgomery
County
school
system
consistently
lags
behind
the
Maryland
county
school
systems
that
lead
in
the
area
of
concussion
sports
safety.
4
•
•
Montgomery
County
is
the
only
school
system
that
is
not
using
the
forms
recommended
by
last
year’s
task
force,
instead
continuing
to
use
an
outdated
form
that
does
not
comply
with
the
State
Board’s
emergency
regulations
about
having
forms
related
to
gradual
return
to
play.
Attached
are
two
memoranda
written
by
Montgomery
County
School
Superintendent
wrote
to
the
County’s
Board
of
Education
in
response
to
my
testimony
asking
for
limits
on
full
contact
practices
in
football,
similar
to
those
adopted
by
the
NFL
and
the
Ivy
League.
o In
his
June
1,
2012
memorandum,
Supt.
Starr
wrote
that
there
was
no
conclusive
or
definitive
study
regarding
the
degree
to
which
the
frequency
of
physical
contact
contributes
to
long
term
head
injuries.
The
current
state
of
research
was
enough
for
the
Ivy
League
and
for
the
NFL
players.3
o In
his
August
24,
2012
memorandum,
Supt.
Starr
also
saw
no
need
to
limit
repetitive
header
drills
in
high
school
soccer
or
to
follow
the
best
practice
of
notifying
the
school
nurse
when
a
concussion
is
suspected.4
I
hope
that
the
task
force
is
able
to
include
this
information
in
its
report
so
that
the
State
Board
will
have
a
baseline
against
which
it
can
measure
progress
in
this
area
going
forward.
In
closing,
I
would
like
to
wish
each
of
you
the
happiest
of
holidays
and
a
very
prosperous
2013.
3
http://www.scribd.com/doc/120923128/06-‐01-‐2012-‐Memo-‐From-‐MCPS-‐Md-‐Supt-‐Starr-‐to-‐Bd-‐of-‐ Ed-‐Re-‐Concussion-‐Issues
4
http://www.scribd.com/doc/120923112/08-‐24-‐12-‐Memo-‐From-‐MCPS-‐Md-‐Supt-‐Starr-‐to-‐BOE-‐Re-‐ Concussion-‐Issues
5
State
Board
of
Education
Regular
Meeting,
December
17,
2012
Public
Comment
Testimony
of
Tom
Hearn
Updated
12-19-12
Good
Morning
Board
President
Dukes
and
Members
of
the
Board.
I
am
Tom
Hearn
and
I
am
a
parent
of
high
school
students
in
Montgomery
County,
Maryland.
Back
in
May,
I
testified
before
the
State
Board
raising
concerns
I
had
about
concussions
in
high
school
sports.1
I
point
out
that
my
concerns
were
shared
by
over
150
people
who
provided
written
comments
in
support
of
the
State
Board
responding
to
this
issue.
I
want
to
express
my
gratitude
to
how
responsive
the
State
Board
was
to
these
concerns.
At
the
following
meeting,
the
State
Board
received
a
briefing
from
staff
and
at
the
meeting
after
that
adopted
emergency
regulations
and
formed
a
task
force
to
examine
and
make
recommendations
to
you
about:
(1)
best
practices
in
concussion
awareness;
(2)
policies
and
procedures
to
follow
when
a
concussion
is
suspected;
and
(3)
sport-‐specific
ways
to
prevent
concussions
from
happening
in
the
first
place.
Enhanced
Public
Participation
and
Transparency
for
State
Board
Meetings
Based
on
my
very
positive
experience
with
the
State
Board,
I
would
like
to
make
recommendations
about
how
the
State
Board
may
further
enhance
public
participation
and
increase
transparency
about
the
Board’s
activities.
Some
of
these
recommendations
would
align
the
State
Board’s
practices
with
those
in
some
of
the
24
Maryland
local
boards
of
education
as
well
as
those
of
other
State
Boards
of
Education,
including
the
Delaware
Board
of
Education,
with
which
Superintendent
Lowery
is
no
doubt
familiar.
1.
Provide
Links
to
Video
Recording
of
State
Board
Meetings
at
the
MSDE
Website
The
State
Board’s
website
does
not
appear
to
currently
provide
a
live
video
feed
to
its
meetings
or
a
link
to
recordings
of
previous
State
Board
meetings.
Most
local
school
systems
make
video
recordings
of
their
meetings
available
at
their
website.
The
Virginia
State
Board
of
Education
also
follows
this
practice.
The
Delaware
State
Board
provides
a
link
to
an
audio
recording.
1
http://www.scribd.com/doc/112672541/sports-‐concussions-‐parent-‐testimony-‐to-‐md-‐state-‐bd-‐of-‐ ed-‐may-‐22-‐2012
http://www.doe.k12.de.us/infosuites/ddoe/sbe/sbeaudio.shtml
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/boe/meetings/index.shtml
Please
consider
providing
such
access
to
recordings
of
meetings.
2.
Allow
Board
Members
to
Ask
Questions
of
Public
Commenters
The
minutes
of
the
State
Board’s
retreat
last
year
on
October
26,
2011
reflect
a
discussion
about
whether
State
Board
members
should
be
permitted
to
ask
questions
of
public
commenters.
Board
members
discussed
the
issue
of
its
policy
regarding
“Public
Comments”
on
the
Board’s
agenda.
Ms.
Staton
[State
Board
member
Donna
Hill
Staton]
expressed
her
concern
that
Board
members
are
unable
to
respond
to
those
giving
public
comment.
Tony
South
[Staff
Director
to
the
State
Board]
reported
that
staff
members
follow
up
with
those
who
comment
to
provide
support
if
needed.
Ms.
Kameen
[Maryland
Attorney
General
Supervisor
Counsel
who
advises
the
State
Board]
said
that
a
call
from
a
staff
member
or
Board
member
about
a
specific
issue
that
may
be
brought
up
during
public
comment
would
be
very
helpful.2
While
as
reflected
in
the
minutes
it
is
true
that
MSDE
staff
can
follow
up
with
public
commenters
and
then
report
back
to
Board
members,
it
would
appear
to
be
more
efficient
if
Board
members
were
able
to
ask
questions
of
public
commenters
at
the
time
of
the
testimony.
In
Montgomery
County,
the
local
school
board
expressly
allows
Board
members
to
ask
questions
of
public
commenters
and
board
members
often
do
so.
I
respectfully
request
that
the
State
Board
consider
amending
its
current
policy
and
permit
Board
members
to
ask
questions
during
public
comment.
3.
Move
Public
Comment
to
Near
the
Beginning
of
the
Meeting
Agenda
The
State
Board
currently
schedules
public
comment
toward
the
end
of
its
meeting
agenda.
State
Board
meetings
sometimes
get
ahead
of
schedule.
While
public
commenters
are
told
to
arrive
at
least
30
minutes
before
the
time
scheduled
for
public
testimony,
it
may
provide
public
commenters
with
a
more
reliable
starting
time
if
the
State
Board
aligned
with
other
Boards
and
scheduled
public
comment
nearer
to
the
beginning
of
each
meeting.
2http://www.scribd.com/doc/173838957/Md-‐St-‐Bd-‐of-‐Ed-‐Minutes-‐of-‐October-‐10-‐25-‐2011-‐
meeting
2
As
in
most
local
school
systems,
the
Delaware
Board
of
Education
and
the
Virginia
Board
of
Education
schedule
public
comment
nearer
to
the
beginning
of
each
meeting.
https://eboard.eboardsolutions.com/Meetings/ViewMeetingOrder.aspx?S=190001 &MID=280
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/boe/meetings/2012/11_nov/agenda.shtml
Please
consider
moving
public
comment
toward
the
beginning
of
the
agenda
at
each
meeting.
4.
Attached
Written
Public
Comment
Testimony
to
Minutes
of
Board
Meetings
For
members
of
the
public
who
share
an
interest
in
a
topic
that
was
the
subject
of
testimony
provided
during
public
comment,
it
would
be
helpful
to
see
the
actual
testimony
rather
than
just
a
summary
of
it
in
the
meeting
minutes.
I
respectfully
recommend
that
the
Board
consider
attaching
copies
of
written
testimony
of
public
commenters
to
the
minutes
of
meetings
at
which
the
testimony
is
given.
5.
Link
Staff
Memorandum
Regarding
Agenda
Items
to
Meeting
Agendas
At
the
May
meeting
where
the
Board
discussed
the
discipline
policy,
the
meeting
agenda
included
a
link
to
the
related
staff
memorandum.
In
many
local
school
systems,
a
link
to
such
staff
memoranda
are
regularly
provided.
I
would
respectfully
recommend
that
the
State
Board
consider
expanding
this
practice.
Concussion
Task
Force
I
want
to
express
my
appreciation
to
concussion
task
force
Co-‐Chairs
Alicia
Mezu
and
Ned
Sparks
for
allowing
me
to
observe
the
Task
Force’s
in-‐person
meetings.
As
Ms.
Mezu
and
Mr.
Sparks
get
ready
to
provide
the
task
force’s
report
to
you,
I
would
like
to
point
out
a
few
issues
that
appear
to
require
further
staff
attention,
and
may
already
be
on
the
radar.
The
Emergency
Regulation
Expires
February
4,
2013—It
would
be
helpful
if
the
State
Board
extended
the
emergency
regulation
to
maintain
the
status
quo.
Please
note
the
edit
I
have
suggested
to
the
removal
from
play
provision
to
align
it
with
long
standing
best
practices
and
to
eliminate
what
was
likely
an
unintended
error
by
the
2011
concussion
working
group
that
got
repeated
into
the
emergency
regulations.
3
Two
Legal
Issues:
• Dr.
Walks
July
24,
2012
Comments
About
Scope
of
Practice—Dr.
Walks
comments
regarding
the
emergency
regulations
reference
to
“licensed
health
care
provider”
raise
fairly
complex
questions
of
statutory
interpretation
and
administrative
law.
From
the
task
force’s
deliberation,
it
was
not
clear
that
these
issues
have
been
teed
up
for
the
Attorney
General’s
office
to
provide
advice.
• Legal
Authority
for
Local
School
Board
to
Conduct
Interscholastic
Sports
o Relation
to
Liability
Immunity
for
Staff
and
Local
School
Systems
Other
Issues
Regarding
the
Task
Force’s
Upcoming
Report
Survey
of
Current
Practices
in
Maryland’s
24
Local
School
Systems
When
I
testified
to
the
State
Board
back
in
May,
I
was
responding
to
my
experience
with
the
weak
policies
and
practices
for
dealing
with
sports
concussions
in
Montgomery
County.
I
had
I
assumed
that
Montgomery
County
was
representative
of
practices
throughout
the
State.
To
help
the
task
force
make
recommendations
to
you
that
are
tailored,
not
only
to
best
practices
across
the
country
but
also
to
current
practices
within
the
State,
I
conducted
an
informal
survey
of
concussion
practices
in
Maryland’s
24
school
systems.
Attached
is
a
chart
reflecting
the
results
of
this
survey
as
well
as
maps
of
the
Maryland
Counties
and
Baltimore
City
that
are
shaded
to
reflect
the
survey
results.
(Attachments
B).
The
survey
revealed
varying
levels
of
alignment
with
best
practices
in
dealing
with
sports
concussions.
• Long-Standing
Strong
Programs
in
Howard
and
Carroll
Counties.
Harford,
Frederick,
Anne
Arundel,
also
appear
to
have
take
sports
concussion
and
other
safety
issues
very
seriously.
If
the
State
Board
were
to
adopt
the
Massachusetts
Department
of
Public
Health
concussion
regulations,
which
appear
to
be
the
strongest
in
the
U.S.,
these
local
school
systems
would
likely
meet,
and
in
some
instances,
exceed
those
requirements.
• Howard
County
Limits
on
Full
Contact
Practices
in
Football.
• Montgomery
County:
A
Consistent
Outlier.
As
shown
on
the
attachments,
the
Montgomery
County
school
system
consistently
lags
behind
the
Maryland
county
school
systems
that
lead
in
the
area
of
concussion
sports
safety.
4
•
•
Montgomery
County
is
the
only
school
system
that
is
not
using
the
forms
recommended
by
last
year’s
task
force,
instead
continuing
to
use
an
outdated
form
that
does
not
comply
with
the
State
Board’s
emergency
regulations
about
having
forms
related
to
gradual
return
to
play.
Attached
are
two
memoranda
written
by
Montgomery
County
School
Superintendent
wrote
to
the
County’s
Board
of
Education
in
response
to
my
testimony
asking
for
limits
on
full
contact
practices
in
football,
similar
to
those
adopted
by
the
NFL
and
the
Ivy
League.
o In
his
June
1,
2012
memorandum,
Supt.
Starr
wrote
that
there
was
no
conclusive
or
definitive
study
regarding
the
degree
to
which
the
frequency
of
physical
contact
contributes
to
long
term
head
injuries.
The
current
state
of
research
was
enough
for
the
Ivy
League
and
for
the
NFL
players.3
o In
his
August
24,
2012
memorandum,
Supt.
Starr
also
saw
no
need
to
limit
repetitive
header
drills
in
high
school
soccer
or
to
follow
the
best
practice
of
notifying
the
school
nurse
when
a
concussion
is
suspected.4
I
hope
that
the
task
force
is
able
to
include
this
information
in
its
report
so
that
the
State
Board
will
have
a
baseline
against
which
it
can
measure
progress
in
this
area
going
forward.
In
closing,
I
would
like
to
wish
each
of
you
the
happiest
of
holidays
and
a
very
prosperous
2013.
3
http://www.scribd.com/doc/120923128/06-‐01-‐2012-‐Memo-‐From-‐MCPS-‐Md-‐Supt-‐Starr-‐to-‐Bd-‐of-‐ Ed-‐Re-‐Concussion-‐Issues
4
http://www.scribd.com/doc/120923112/08-‐24-‐12-‐Memo-‐From-‐MCPS-‐Md-‐Supt-‐Starr-‐to-‐BOE-‐Re-‐ Concussion-‐Issues
5
