Two years ago Flagler County was among only a handful of Florida school districts that made electrocardiogram or ECG screenings mandatory for student athletes before they could take to the field.
The distinction was hard-won. It followed sharp debates on the School Board, with three board members opposed to making the tests mandatory: Will Furry, Christy Chong and then-Board member Sally Hunt. They said the decision should be left up to parents. It was only with Hunt’s last-minute switch that a 3-2 vote–with then-Board members Colleen Conklin and Cheryl Massaro in the majority–resulted in the new policy.
On Tuesday, without controversy or debate, the board voted 4-0 toward aligning that policy with state law. The state law essentially catches up to Flagler and the other counties who had been ahead of that trend. Gov. Ron DeSantis had signed the measure into law in June 2025. The requirement was to go into effect in the 2027-28 school year. A House amendment moved that up to the 2026-27 school year–meaning this coming July 1.
The board vote was to advertise the policy’s new wording before it is formally adopted with another vote before that date. The new policy requires middle and high school students to complete an ECG within two years before the date when they would start participating in athletics. The existing policy has a smaller time window.
The requirement also applies to students in Junior ROTC, marching bands or color guards, and it applies to students in private schools, charter schools, virtual schools or homeschools if the students choose to participate in district athletic or other activities covered by the law.
“There is a database, we use Home Campus here in Flagler,” David Bossardet, the district’s safety specialist, said, explaining how students’ records are tracked. “Every year, students have to be cleared through the athletic department or with JROTC, color guard and marching band through our activities office.” Parents may themselves upload the required forms through the database.
“We don’t put that responsibility on the coaches,” Bossardet said. “Coaches are responsible for checking their rosters, and they can log in and make sure everybody’s cleared. It tells you whether you’re cleared or not, and if you’re not cleared for some reason, it tells you why.” The clearance carries through year after year: students don’t have to submit to further ECG testing.
The school district partners with AdventHealth and Who We Play For to provide periodic free screening clinics at the two high schools. Families are free to get their screenings from their own provider.
Earlier this month AdventHealth reported that one of those clinics last spring changed the course of Matanzas High School basketball player Jamel Guerrero’s season and may have prevented a far more serious outcome.
Guerrero, a junior guard, attended AdventHealth’s annual sports physicals event for Flagler Schools in May and got an ECG. The test flagged an abnormality, even though Guerrero had never felt symptoms or experienced health problems. Further testing confirmed Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, a rare condition that can cause the heart to beat dangerously fast, particularly during intense physical activity.
“When we got the call, my heart just dropped,” said Eric Guerrero, Jamel’s father. “You go from thinking it’s just another form to sign to realizing something serious is going on.” Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome often goes undetected because many people feel healthy until a sudden episode occurs. In young athletes, those episodes can happen without warning.
Guerrero underwent corrective heart surgery in July. After months of recovery, follow-up testing and medical clearance, he returned to the court this winter.
“I didn’t know what to expect at first,” said Guerrero. “Basketball is such a big part of my life, and there was a lot of uncertainty. Getting cleared to play again was a huge relief.” In his first game back this season, Guerrero scored 20 points.
Eric Guerrero is also the head coach of the Matanzas boys’ basketball team and watched his son step away from competition to focus on his health before gradually returning. “As a coach and a parent, you want your kids on the court,” he said. “But you want them healthy more than anything.”
During last year’s event, AdventHealth cared for more than 800 Flagler County students and identified 17 who needed follow-up care, including several who required immediate attention. By removing cost and access barriers, the program helps uncover potentially serious heart conditions that might otherwise go unnoticed.
“These screenings are quick, but they give us valuable information,” said Michael Doersch, AdventHealth’s head athletic trainer at Matanzas High School. “They help us spot heart rhythm issues early, before they become emergencies.”
Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) bylaws prohibit students with abnormal ECG results from participating in athletic activities until they submit written medical clearance.
Students may be exempted from the ECG requirement if a qualified physician provides an exemption, or if the students’ parents file for a religious exemption. The district’s policy amendment drew no public comment either at the workshop, where it was first discussed, or at its evening meeting.
In 2021 the Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Governmental Accountability known as OPPAGA published a report that found that sudden cardiac death is rare among students but is the leading cause of non-traumatic deaths among young athletes. The report put the incidence of sudden cardiac death among high school athletes in a range from 1 in 23,000 to 1 in 300,000. Athletes often have no symptoms before the cardiac arrest. The ECG is not foolproof: it may help identify 60 percent of diagnoses related to sudden cardiac death, according to a legislative analysis of the 2025 bill, which was also called the Second Chance Act.
Atwp says
Am glad the schools are doing this. They saw a condition and worked on it. He was cleared to play basketball, a good decision but was it the right decision. I do believe the Republicans will try to stop the screening, they will probably say it isn’t necessary and cost too much money. The Republicans don’t give a hoot about the little working people, all they care about is the working class votes and filling the rich with more tax breaks and money.