The Florida High School Athletic Association will revise menstrual history questions about its fitness for student-athletes after Palm Beach Post story caused a violent reaction from athletes, parents and doctors.
On a special meeting of the Palm Beach County School Board on Wednesday, FHSAA board member and former state representative Ralph Arza said he is going to add an agenda item to the association’s Nov. 6 and 7 board of directors meeting to permanently change the uniforms.
His recommendation would be to remove optional questions about menstruation and update the form to ensure that only the doctor’s final letter is turned over to schools.
“It’s outrageous,” Arza said in an interview. “There is no reason for us to collect this information and no reason for schools to need it. This is another example of the FHSAA not representing the people it is supposed to serve.”
The FHSAA is now responsible for developing and distributing the three-page physical throughout the state. Student-athletes must submit all three pages of the form to their schools before they can practice and play.
Previously:Palm Beach County School Board to discuss menstrual history at special meeting
Original story:Florida asks student-athletes about their periods. Why some find it “shocking” after Roe
questions:Florida student-athletes were asked to report their menstrual history. Here are the questions
Arza asked the Palm Beach County School Board for a letter of support to present to the board. He added that he would like to receive letters of support from other urban school districts throughout Florida, particularly Broward and Miami-Dade. Arza represented parts of both districts from 2004 to 2006 in the state House.
Members of the local school board also expressed their outrage over five questions about when female athletes had their last period and how many weeks between periods, among other things.
“This is information that should be between the doctor and the patient,” said board member Alexandria Ayala.
They seemed to agree that they supported Arza’s amendment.
“It needs to be changed. I’m just thrilled that you’re going to represent us,” board member Marcia Andrews told Arza. “We need to remove it.”
Outrage spread to the entire state of Sarasota.
Jane Goodwin, chairwoman of the Sarasota County School Board, said the questions are “very invasive” and should be removed from the forms.
“Women are under the microscope, not men. I mean, really? Do we need more of this?” Goodwin said. “I think it’s an outdated issue that shouldn’t be there in any form, and it has nothing to do with sports participation.”
The issue is not on the Sarasota County School Board’s agenda for the upcoming Oct. 18 meeting, and Goodwin said she has not heard from anyone in the community on the issue. It may come up at an upcoming Council workshop, but because of Hurricane Jan, it wasn’t on the Council’s radar, she said.
What questions about periods are on the Florida athlete registration forms?
Five Questions About Menstruation marked “female athletes only” have been on the FHSAA’s annual registration form since at least 2002.
They are:
- When was your first period?
- When was your last period?
- How long does it usually take you from the start of one period to the start of the next?
- How many periods have you had in the last year?
- What was the longest time between periods last year?
A number of developments have changed people’s perception of their reproductive privacy — including the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June and tougher abortion laws taking effect in many states that could lead to lawsuits.
These developments and personal beliefs about data privacy have in some cases changed the sensitivity of families to reporting a person’s reproductive history.
And many people did not know that the questions were in the forms.
In Palm Beach County, parents pressured the school district to make the online registration platform optional after they raised concerns about where their students’ data could end up.
Aktivate, an online platform designed to facilitate tracking of athlete information, requires the entry of values such as “N/A” for each athlete’s physical participation question, whether or not the question is optional.
School district officials and school board members said their phones have been ringing off the hook for questions.
Why do doctors ask female athletes about menstruation
It’s important for a young person to discuss their menstrual history with their doctor because irregular periods can be a sign of the so-called female athlete’s triad, a disorder that can affect an athlete’s ability to play injury-free.
The three-page FHSAA physical includes a two-page medical history, in which athletes are asked to report seizures, surgeries, allergies, and more. along with menstrual history. The last page is the authorization form, which asks the doctor to list any restrictions on the athlete’s practice and play.
But doctors, many of whom routinely fill out pre-participation forms, say medical information that doesn’t directly affect an athlete’s emergency care should not be shared with their school.
In Florida, the FHSAA form states that an athlete’s entire medical history must be submitted to the school along with a one-page release signed by their physician.
This is contrary to national fitness guidelines developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which state that schools only need to submit a one-page request.
“I don’t think we intended to share that information with anyone else,” said Dr. Chris Coutures, a pediatrician in Anaheim, Calif., who served on the committee that wrote the national physicals.
The state requires the FHSAA to register athletes
The FHSAA’s Sports Medicine Committee, which includes 16 doctors, athletic trainers and coaches, conducts pre-participation physicals each year.
At the most recent committee meeting on August 16, the committee briefly discussed updating the form in line with national guidelines.
But neither in the agenda nor in the protocol was it specified what these clarifications were. None of the committee members responded to requests for comment on the form or its updates.
State law requires the FHSAA create and distribute fitness before participating.
It also states that the results of the medical examination must be provided to schools, but does not specify which parts of the physical examination form must be provided to schools.
Palm Beach County School Board Chairman Frank Barbieri criticized the uniforms and the fact that schools must collect all the pages.
He also said he worries that a school district could be held liable if a coach knows about a medical problem, but a doctor clears an athlete to play and a medical emergency occurs.
He used the example of reporting high blood pressure in a fit athlete.
“If that box is checked, and we have it, and the coach lets the kid go out and play and he has a stroke, I mean, even if the doctor cleared him, I’m sure the school board would be sued, so that’s on the uniform,” he said. “We don’t need to see those things.”
Sarasota Herald-Tribune staff member Steven Walker contributed to this story.
Kathryn Kokal is an education reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can contact her at kkokal@pbpost.com. Help support our work, sign up today!
