SB267INTRODUCED
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4Z2P3R-1
By Senator Chesteen
RFD: Finance and Taxation Education
First Read: 27-Apr-23
2023 Regular Session
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6 4Z2P3R-1 04/25/2023 GP (L)lg 2023-1758
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SYNOPSIS:
Under existing law, the Alabama Board of
Athletic Trainers oversees the licensure of athletic
trainers.
This bill would create the Athletic Trainer
Secondary School Incentive Program, administered by the
board, to incentivize the recruitment and retention of
athletic trainers in rural and Title I secondary
schools.
This bill would allow the board to adopt rules
relating to the administration of the program, and to
award grants to qualifying local boards of education,
and would cap the total amount of stipends that may be
awarded per school year.
This bill would allow a local board of education
to apply for a grant if certain criteria are met.
This bill would require grants awarded to local
boards of education to be issued as stipends to
athletic trainers who provide the required athletic
training services.
This bill would also limit each secondary school
to one grant per school year, and each athletic trainer
to one stipend per school year, and provide that if
more than one athletic trainer provided athletic
training services to a school, that any grant be
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divided among them.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to athletic trainers; to create the Athletic
Trainer Secondary School Incentive Program; to provide grants
to local boards of education that meet certain requirements
related to the use of athletic trainers in rural and Title I
secondary schools; to authorize the Alabama Board of Athletic
Trainers to adopt rules to administer the incentive program
and the grant application process; to require grants issued
from the incentive program to be provided as stipends to
qualifying athletic trainers; and to limit each secondary
school and athletic trainer to one grant per school year.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. For the purposes of this act, the following
terms have the following meanings:
(1) ATHLETIC TRAINER. The same meaning as the term
"athletic training practice," as defined by Section 34-40-2,
Code of Alabama 1975. This term includes after school sporting
event coverage.
(2) ATHLETIC TRAINING SERVICES. Services provided by an
athletic trainer within the scope of athletic training
practice, as defined by Section 34-40-2, Code of Alabama 1975.
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This term includes coverage provided to an after school
sporting event.
(3) BOARD. The Alabama Board of Athletic Trainers, as
provided in Chapter 40 of Title 34 of the Code of Alabama
1975.
(4) INCENTIVE PROGRAM. The Athletic Trainer Secondary
School Incentive Program established by this act.
(5) RURAL SCHOOL. A school not located within a United
States Census Bureau Alabama Urbanized Area of 50,000 or more
individuals.
(6) SECONDARY SCHOOL. Any school providing education to
students in sixth through twelfth grade. This term includes
middle schools and high schools.
Section 2. (a) There is established the Athletic
Trainer Secondary School Incentive Program. The program shall
be administered by the board.
(b) The board shall award funds to local boards of
education to incentivize the recruitment and retention of
athletic trainers at rural secondary schools and Title I
secondary schools in the state. The board shall allocate grant
awards to the applicable local board of education for each
successful application that meets the requirements of this
act. Each grant shall be no more than seven thousand five
hundred dollars ($7,500), as determined by the board based on
the application.
(c) The incentive program shall be capped at two
million dollars ($2,000,000) per school year.
(d) Grants may be awarded annually beginning with the
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2024-2025 school year, and each school year thereafter.
(e) The grants provided by this act shall be contingent
on the availability of funds. The Legislature may appropriate
funds to the board for the incentive program, and the board
may accept funds from nongovernmental entities to be used for
the incentive program. Any monies appropriated shall be
budgeted and allotted pursuant to the Budget Management Act in
accordance with Article 4, commencing with Section 41-4-80 of
Chapter 4 of Title 41, Code of Alabama 1975, and only in the
amounts provided by the Legislature in the general
appropriations act or other appropriations act. Funds not
expended in any fiscal year shall not revert but shall remain
with the board for use in implementing the incentive program.
Section 3. (a) A local board of education may apply for
a grant from the incentive program if, during the academic
school year, an athletic trainer provided an average of at
least 25 hours of athletic training services per week to a
rural secondary school or Title I secondary school under the
purview of the local board of education. Any athletic training
services provided by an athletic trainer may be counted
towards the required hours, provided that the athletic trainer
provides the athletic training services in one of the
following manners:
(1) As an employee of the local board of education.
(2) As an employee of a health care facility.
(3) As a participant in a third-party sports medicine
program.
(b)(1) The board shall compile a list of schools
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eligible for grants from the incentive program and publish the
list on its website. The list shall be compiled in the
following manner:
a. For rural secondary schools, by considering census
data to determine which secondary schools are not located in
urbanized areas of 50,000 or more individuals.
b. For Title I secondary schools, by considering
federal law.
(2) Local boards of education meeting the application
criteria may apply for the incentive program following the end
of the academic school year, during a time period to be
determined by the board.
Section 4. (a) The board shall develop an application
form and adopt procedures for the administration of the
incentive program application, including for the development
of application criteria and a timeline for application review
and grant disbursement.
(b)(1) The local superintendent of education shall
provide an attestation that all requirements for the incentive
program have been satisfied, and each athletic trainer seeking
to benefit from the incentive program shall provide an
attestation that he or she has provided at least 25 hours of
athletic training services to a rural secondary school or
Title I secondary school under the local board of education's
purview.
(2) The board may take disciplinary action against an
athletic trainer who falsifies the amount of athletic training
services he or she provided.
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Section 5. (a) Upon the receipt of a grant from the
incentive program, the local board of education shall
distribute the grant funds as a stipend to the qualifying
athletic trainer.
(1) If multiple athletic trainers provided an average
of at least 25 hours of athletic training services per week to
a secondary school during the academic school year, the local
board of education shall evenly divide the funds from the
incentive program among the athletic trainers.
(2) An athletic trainer may only receive one stipend
from the incentive program per school year. Once an athletic
trainer is awarded a stipend pursuant to this act, he or she
shall not be eligible for another incentive program stipend
until the next school year, even if he or she provided
athletic training services to multiple schools.
(b) The local board of education is limited to one
successful grant application per secondary school each school
year.
Section 6. This act shall become effective on the first
day of the third month following its passage and approval by
the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.
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