Your school would need more defibrillators and staff trained to use them
What it does
The bill would replace the requirement that each campus have at least one automated external defibrillator with a rule that each campus have as many as are needed so a person in cardiac arrest could be reached within three minutes of being notified. School nurses, assistant school nurses, athletic coaches, physical education instructors, marching band directors, cheerleading coaches, and student athletic trainers would have to take CPR and defibrillator instruction and maintain certification from the American Heart Association, the American Red Cross, or a similar nationally recognized organization. The commissioner would also run a grant program for cardiac emergency response plans and would give priority to districts or schools where at least 50 percent of enrolled students are educationally disadvantaged. Public schools would have to meet the new defibrillator count by the first instructional day of the 2029-2030 school year.
What it means for your community
If your child practices or plays sports on campus, more defibrillators within reach and more trained adults nearby could mean faster help in a cardiac emergency. The bill's caption also names certain private schools, while the sections it rewrites are the Education Code rules for school districts. The grant priority would direct planning money toward campuses with high numbers of educationally disadvantaged students. Nothing changes unless the legislature passes the bill.
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