As rising temperatures due to climate change endanger student athletes, U.S. states are implementing varied heat safety policies for sports practices. Affluent schools offer advanced cooling facilities, while poorer districts struggle with basic compliance. Experts warn that funding gaps leave protections inconsistent across the country.
George LaComb, a senior at Lake Buena Vista High School in Orlando, Florida, highlighted stark differences in heat safety between his current affluent school and his previous one. The new school provides a full-time athletic trainer, ice baths, and indoor facilities, unlike the makeshift setups at his old school. LaComb, also a Florida state representative on the National Student Council, said, “Making sure each school has the resources to keep students safe shouldn’t be dependent on income.” More than 9,000 high school athletes receive treatment for heat illnesses annually, per U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates, with nine deaths from exertional heatstroke in 2021 alone—a record—and at least 65 teen heat-related deaths since 2000, according to the Louisville Courier Journal analysis. Recent incidents include 11 Mississippi marching band members hospitalized in July 2025 and deaths of teens in Memphis and North Texas that summer. No national school heat safety standard exists yet, though federal workplace rules are advancing via OSHA. The Korey Stringer Institute ranks states on policies like acclimation periods, wet-bulb globe thermometer use, cold water immersion tubs, and the “cool first, transport second” protocol. Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and North Carolina earn top scores, while Colorado and Maine lag without formal protections; California improved after 2024 mandates. In New Hampshire, 2021 legislation sponsored by Republican Senator Ruth Ward requires emergency plans and trainers at contact sports, but schools face funding shortfalls—wet-bulb devices cost up to $500 with minimal state aid. State Senator Ward noted, “It’s not a partisan issue. This is about keeping our kids safe.” Cash-strapped districts improvise, like Kearsarge Regional School District's TACO method—tarp-assisted cooling with oscillation—which assistant athletic director Molly McDougal called effective despite sounding “sketchy.” Children’s vulnerabilities to heat, including slower acclimation and dehydration risks, compound the issue amid intensifying heat waves, experts say.
