The Flagler School Board on Wednesday approved adding mandatory EKGs to the health screenings required for students to compete in high school sports. The decision came after speculation that the measure may not have enough votes to pass, but it ultimately made it through by a 3-2 margin. The decision will effect student athletes at Flagler Palm Coast High School and Matanzas High School.
According to the Mayo Clinic, an electrocardiogram (also known as an EKG or ECG) is “a quick test to check the heartbeat” which measures electrical signals within the heart. The outcomes of these tests can differentiate a healthy heart from those with heart arrhythmia, blocked arteries, or other cardiovascular issues. The procedure is already available as an optional part of health screenings, but will now be mandatory.
Student Safety and Parental Rights
The vote to approve was formed by a majority consisting of Colleen Conklin, Sally Hunt, and Cheryl Massaro, with the dissenting vote being Christy Chong and Will Furry. The issue invoked parallel conversations during the COVID-19 pandemic in which student safety was pitted against parental rights in political discourse. The main topics on that front in Flagler County were mask mandates and vaccines, both of which galvanized impassioned political participation, at times outside of civility. For Conklin, the most tenured member on the School Board, EKGs were not the same thing.
“The idea that we would even question a policy that could possibly save the life of a student…this isn’t vaccines,” she said in support of her vote. “I’m not looking to ‘co-parent’ anybody. These aren’t masks, this is noninvasive. It is potentially saving a child’s life.” Her and Massaro’s stances were clear ahead of the Wednesday meeting, with Hunt’s vote likely being the deciding factor. Both Conklin and Massaro will be leaving office at the end of 2024. Some parents worried that Hunt, who’s hinted at impending resignation, would likely kill the policy on Wednesday.
The most directly experienced Board member in the medical field is Chong, who’s an advanced practice registered nurse working with AdventHealth in Port Orange. Chong indicated she supported the idea of EKGs, but not taking the choice away from parents. Along with Furry, she campaigned in 2022 on increased parental power over students’ school lives, earning an endorsement from Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Mandatory Electrocardiograms
Several parents participated in public comments, with some invoking personal stories with cardiovascular disease and trauma to express their support for mandatory EKGs. Flagler County now stands alongside six other Florida counties out of the 67 in the state which have such a policy: Brevard, Highlands, Orange, Seminole, Suwanee, and Volusia.
“It’s a simple test that takes only a few minutes to perform but can provide valuable information. In some cases, it saves lives,” said Dr. Cheyenne Beach, a cardiologist with Yale Medicine. “An ECG allows us to identify cardiac abnormalities that could potentially lead to abnormal heart rhythm problems or, in the most serious circumstance, sudden cardiac death.”
Chong and Furry did not take to trial the merits of the test at Wednesday’s meeting, but advocated for allowing parents the decision instead of reserving it for the school district. Parents can ultimately opt out by not allowing their kids to participate in high school sports, but that’s where their agency in the decision will end.
