Honorable Florence Shapiro, Chair, Senate Committee on Education
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB7 by Hinojosa (relating to instruction in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the availability and use of automated external defibrillators at public school campuses and certain athletic events. ), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill directs the State Board of Education to include elements related to cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the use of an automated external defibrillator as part of the essential knowledge and skills of the health curriculum and to require such instruction beginning with the 2008-2009 school year. The bill would not require the review and adoption of textbooks until otherwise scheduled under the review and adoption cycle per Section 31.022 Education Code.
Local Government Impact
The bill requires annual training in the principles and techniques of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED) for general staff and volunteers.It is assumed that this training would not include certification by the American Red Cross or American Heart Association.Districts that do not currently offer this type of training within annual staff development activities could incur additional local cost to comply. A number of staff in specific roles and students serving as athletic trainers would be required to complete further training each year, including CPR certification. Because current §33.086 Education Code requires CPR certification for head coaches and sponsors of extracurricular athletic activities, those staff have been excluded from this estimate.Assuming that 12,000 staff would receive certification training each year to maintain a two-year certification at a cost of $50 per individual, statewide costs to comply would be estimated at $600,000 annually beginning in FY2008.
School districts would need to acquire a sufficient number of AED units to comply with the requirement for at least one unit to be available at each campus in the district and at each UIL athletic competition on a school campus.Although the bill provides for the availability of AEDs at athletic practices to be locally determined in cooperation with UIL, it is assumed that many districts would need to obtain multiple AED units to ensure availability during athletic competitions at campuses enrolling students in grades 7-12.Recent anecdotal evidence suggests that nearly two-thirds of campuses serving students in grades 7-12 have at least one AED unit.However, less than 20% have multiple units.It is assumed that as many as 11,200 additional units may be needed to comply with the requirements for athletic competitions and availability for campuses from the middle school through high school levels.It is assumed that 2,500 units would be needed for elementary campuses to meet the requirement that at least one AED unit be available per campus.Assuming a $1,500 per unit average cost, one-time costs for equipment purchases would be estimated at about $20.6 million in fiscal year 2008.Ongoing costs associated with units are assumed to be limited to periodic maintenance and testing and would not be expected to be significant on a statewide basis.