Senate Bill 80

CHS Senior, Teachers Present SB80 to Assembly Committee on Education
Posted on 05/08/2023
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As Senate Bill 80 (SB80), the education measure advocating for head injury and concussion legislation, advances through the legislative process, Youth Legislator Stella Thornton, 18-year-old senior at Carson High School (CHS), on behalf of the Nevada Youth Legislature (NYL), took time last Thursday, May 4, 2023, to further present SB80 to the Nevada Assembly Committee on Education.

She was introduced by Tina Ashdown, NYL program Facilitator, and supported by Nicholas Murray, Ph.D., with the Neuromechanics Laboratory at the University of Nevada Reno (via Zoom), Frank Sakelarios, CHS Health Science teacher and certified athletic trainer, and Adam Hunsaker, CHS Science teacher and certified athletic trainer.

Having previously presented SB80 to the Nevada Senate Committee on Education Wednesday, March 15, 2023, Thornton reaffirmed that SB80 will provide clear guidelines and procedures for managing a student's traumatic brain injury (TBI) or concussion. In adopting Return to Learn and amending existing Return to Play policies, SB80 will provide a framework for students who have suffered head injuries to receive the care and support they need to return to school and other activities.

The passage of SB80 will also prioritize Nevada’s students’ health and well-being and help ensure students have a smoother transition back into school, she continued. Nevada’s Return to Play policies were first enacted with the passage of AB 455 in 2011.

At the conclusion of the hearing, several individuals provided support of Thornton and SB80 by testifying in favor of the bill including the following in the order they appeared.

  • Elise Monroe Marsala, Nevada Public Health Association
  • Andrew Feuling, superintendent for the Carson City School District
  • Erin Been, Health teacher at Carson High
  • Paula Cook, president of the Nevada Occupational Therapy Association
  • John Rider, Touro University Nevada

Additionally, there were a few individuals who provided testimony in opposition to SB80 including the following in the order they appeared.

  • Erica Roth, Washoe County Public Defender’s Office
  • John Piro, Clark County Public Defender’s Office
  • Chris Daly, Nevada State Education Association

Next steps: Following this hearing by the Nevada Assembly Committee on Education, SB80 will be put on a calendar to be voted on, debated, amended or tabled. If the bill is tabled or there is no action by the committee before the passage deadline, the bill may or may not come back for a vote. If it does not come back for a vote, the bill “dies.” If the committee casts a vote on the bill, it can be defeated or advanced to be presented on the Nevada State Senate floor.