CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Members of the state Board of Education gave unanimous approval Wednesday to a policy dealing with athletic trainers in public schools in West Virginia.
In general, Policy 5112 includes revisions to minimum requirements dating back to the 1990s for the licensure of athletic trainers plus limited football trainers, providing coverage utilizing waivers, for football in grades 9-12 in public schools in West Virginia.
Tom Belmaggio, coordinator of sports medicine at the Marshall Sports Medicine Institute, said limited football trainers don’t have the education and experience of certified athletic trainers.
“The limited football trainer cannot evaluate concussions, but we have them working a contact collision sport which involves potential concussions every day,” Belmaggio told members of the state BOE.
He noted that, these days, most entry-level athletic trainers have master’s degrees.
Others echoed his assessments.
“I don’t think the changes you’re currently making are in the best interests of student safety,” Dr. Zach Garrett, program director for Marshall University’s Athletic Training Program, said before Wednesday’s scheduled vote.
He questioned why medical coverage was not also being extended to school sports for girls and women in potential violation of Title IX.
“I can tell you personally some of the worst concussions I’ve dealt with have been in soccer, more importantly, women’s soccer,” Garrett said.
Putnam County follows a model of employing full-time, certified, licensed athletic trainers in each of the county’s four high schools.
In other counties, though, there are funding concerns along with issues of availability of trained athletic trainers.
Speakers at Wednesday’s BOE meeting said other options to address monetary and staffing concerns could include outsourcing athletic training services through local doctor offices, hospitals or other medical facilities.
Due to a previously-scheduled trip, Bernie Dolan, executive director of the WVSSAC, was not in attendance at the Wednesday BOE meeting when revisions to Policy 5112 were discussed.
In all, 76 comments were submitted during the public comment period for the proposed policy revisions that ended in December.
The policy is scheduled to take effect later this year.