HB2151 would authorize a grant program under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to support students who have epilepsy or a seizure disorder. The bill defines two planning documents—an individualized emergency health care plan and an individualized health care plan—developed with health care providers, parents, and school staff to guide care and emergency responses in schools.
It would provide federal grants to states, which would pass subgrants to local educational agencies to fund training for school personnel on seizure awareness and preparedness, including the creation and use of health care plans. The bill also outlines permissible uses for subgrant funds, requires periodic training, includes privacy and information-sharing provisions, provides liability protections for staff acting in good faith, and authorizes funding through 2030.
At a Glance
What It Does
The Secretary awards grants to states to fund subgrants to LEAs. Subgrants fund training of school personnel on seizure awareness and preparedness, including the development and implementation of individualized health care plans and individualized emergency health care plans for students with epilepsy or seizures.
Who It Affects
States, local educational agencies (LEAs), school nurses, school bus drivers, parents of students with epilepsy, and students with epilepsy or seizure disorders.
Why It Matters
It standardizes care and planning for students with epilepsy across districts, improves school readiness for seizures, and creates a structured funding stream to support staff training and health plan development.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The Seizure Awareness and Preparedness Act would create a grant program under Part G of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to help students who have epilepsy or seizure disorders. The bill defines two planning tools—the individualized emergency health care plan and the individualized health care plan—that teams with a student’s health care provider, parent, and school nurse to outline how care should be delivered and what to do in emergencies.
States would receive grants to award subgrants to local school districts to fund training for school personnel on seizure awareness and the use of these plans in elementary and secondary schools. In addition to mandatory training for nurses and staff, subgrants may fund training on administering seizure medications, educating students, recruiting dedicated compliance staff, and other approved activities.
The act also requires information sharing with appropriate health providers when parents consent, offers liability protections for staff acting in good faith, and specifies that grant funds supplement rather than supplant existing funding. The bill requests an appropriation of $34.5 million for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to support these activities.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill creates a Part G grant program under the ESEA to fund seizure awareness and preparedness in schools.
Definitions establish individualized emergency health care plans and individualized health care plans developed with medical providers, parents, and school nurses.
States award subgrants to LEAs to fund training and plan implementation in elementary and secondary schools.
Subgrants can fund medication administration training, student education, staffing for compliance, and other approved activities.
The act includes privacy-release provisions, liability protections for staff acting in good faith, and a $34.5 million appropriation for 2026-2030.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Grant program to support students who have epilepsy or a seizure disorder
Part G creates a new grant program within the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to support students with epilepsy or seizure disorders. It authorizes federal funding to states, which in turn award subgrants to local educational agencies to implement training and planning activities in schools. The program’s core focus is to ensure school personnel are prepared to recognize seizures, respond appropriately, and maintain consistent health-care planning for affected students.
Key planning documents: individualized emergency health care plan and individualized health care plan
The bill defines two documents that guide school care. The individualized emergency health care plan specifies step-by-step actions in emergencies, while the individualized health care plan outlines ongoing health services at school. Both plans require input from health care providers, parents, and school nurses and must reflect the student’s health needs and care recommendations.
Authorization of grant program
The Secretary would award grants to states on a competitive basis to support subgrants to LEAs. This establishes the primary federal mechanism for distributing funds and driving school-based epilepsy preparedness across districts.
Applications for grants
States seeking funding must submit applications detailing how they will distribute subgrants to LEAs, how training will be delivered, and how plans will be implemented in schools. The process is designed to ensure accountability and trackability of funds.
Subgrants to LEAs and use of funds
Subgrants are directed to LEAs to fund training on seizure awareness and the use of individualized health care plans and individualized emergency health care plans. The bill sets out a structured framework for how these funds may be used, including required uses and permissible activities.
Use of subgrant funds — required and permissible uses
A core, required use is funding training for school personnel on seizure awareness and the implementation of health-care plans. Permissible uses include training to administer seizure medications, student education, recruiting dedicated compliance staff, and other activities approved by the Secretary to strengthen seizure preparedness.
Supplement; not supplant
Grant funds must supplement existing federal or state funds and cannot replace them. This clarifies that the program should add to current resources, not drain them from other sources.
Authorization of appropriations
The bill authorizes $34.5 million in appropriations for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to carry out the grant and subgrant programs, underscoring the policy intent and scale of the effort.
Table of contents addition
The act adds a new entry to the ESEA table of contents reflecting the new Part G and its Sec. 4701 grant program, signaling formal integration into the statute.
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Explore Education in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Students with epilepsy or seizure disorders receive structured care and safe-school planning.
- Parents/guardians gain formal channels for ensuring their child’s health needs are understood and respected at school.
- School nurses and health staff gain a defined framework for coordinating care and training.
- Local educational agencies (LEAs) and states receive resources to implement seizure-awareness training and care planning, creating consistency across schools.
- State education agencies gain a scalable mechanism to improve student safety and health services through grant-supported programs.
Who Bears the Cost
- LEAs incur training and staffing costs to implement the subgrant-funded programs.
- States bear program administration costs and reporting requirements for subgrants.
- School bus operators must support training and information sharing for students with epilepsy, including driver notification and safety protocols.
- Parents may need to provide documentation and participate in developing health care plans and information-sharing arrangements.
- Districts may face administrative overhead to coordinate IHPs, IEPs, and release provisions for information sharing.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central tension is between providing rapid, standardized seizure preparedness across diverse school districts and the administrative, privacy, and funding constraints that can differ markedly from one district to another. The mechanism solves one problem—ensuring trained staff and documented care plans—but introduces new questions about privacy, data sharing, cost sharing, and long-term funding stability.
The bill’s approach hinges on grant funding and coordinated planning across multiple actors, which raises implementation questions in districts with limited health staff or technology. Requiring regular training every two years, maintaining up-to-date individualized plans, and ensuring access to physician orders and privacy-compliant information sharing could strain some LEAs.
At the same time, the reliance on state-level subgrant programs introduces potential variability in how aggressively districts adopt the training and plans. The privacy and information-sharing provisions depend on parent consent and clear procedures to avoid data leaks, while liability protections seek to shield staff but do not eliminate risk for families seeking recourse.
Finally, the bill presumes ongoing federal appropriations, which may affect the sustainability of the program if funding stalls.
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