Court Decisions Specific to Public School Responses to Student Concussions

Abstract

This article provides an up-to-date and comprehensive canvassing of the judicial case law concerning the responses to students with concussions in the public school context. The two categories of court decisions are (a) those concerning continued participation in interscholastic athletics, referred to under the rubric of "return to play” and (b) those concerning the legal obligations in facilitating the continued educational progress of the student, referred to under the rubric of "return to school." The case law in the first category primarily addresses state common law claims of negligence and federal constitutional claims under the Fourteenth Amendment due process clause. The court decisions in the second category primarily address the successive issues of child find, eligibility, and "free appropriate public education" (including but not necessarily limited to accommodations) under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The outcomes of the court decisions thus far have been largely in favor of the district defendants, but the case law is far from crystallized and complete.