There is already a policy within the student handbook that was adopted in March 2018 and updated as recently as March 2025. However, the latest iteration seeks to include wrestling in the policy, which, as of now, only lists football.
Within the current policy, an athletic trainer or first responder must be present and in person for all football games and practices. On Tuesday, the board will vote on advancing a version that includes wrestling matches and tournaments to that language.
"The more preventative we can be, I think, is going to be best case for the actual student-athletes," said parent Kramer Pritchard, whose son is a quarterback for Heritage High School. "The more that it's front of mind, the more we're educated on what can, what can happen afterwards or signs during play."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), wrestling ranks fifth in youth sports for the highest rate of concussions. Additionally, 59% of all youth wrestling concussions come from takedowns. Meanwhile, youth football ranks first on the same list, with tackling accounting for 63% of concussions.
"Coaches in high school and middle school and parents need to have those conversations with kids that it's a very serious subject," said Pritchard. "It's not anything to play around with. It's not minimizing your toughness. It's protecting yourself. And I think that's extremely important for everybody to jump on that bandwagon."
Also, per the CDC, more than 2 out of 3 concussions in high school sports are the result of collisions between athletes.
"Definitely looking back at it ... I might have had a concussion. I never knew," said former high school athlete Denzel Aligweke. "But I mean, I just wanted to play."
Should the school board vote to move forward with the concussion protocol revision, it will then go to a second reading before another vote prior to becoming district policy.
Stay on top of breaking news stories with the ABC11 News App