Large Groupand Schoolage Childcare Licensing

Large Groupand SchoolAge ChildCare Licensing

POLICYSTATEMENT:StaffRatiosandGroupings

Child care licensing regulationsdefine“group”asfollows:Two ormorechildrenwho participateinthesameactivitiesatthesametimeandareassignedtothesamestaffpersonforsupervision,at the same time.

Thenumberofchildrenanyclassroomcanaccommodateisdeterminedbytheactivity space,thestaffingpattern,andtheavailablematerialsandequipment.TheDepartmentrecommends(butdoesnotrequire)thatonlyonegroupofchildrenbeassignedtoeachclassroom.However,ifmorethanonegroupofchildrensharesthesameclassroom,theroommustbedividedintoareasof sufficient activityspace for eachgroupbypartitions, storage units or other physicalbarriers.

Ifaprogramwishestoexceedthemaximumgroupings,theprogrammustsubmitaplantoassurethattheintentoftheEEC’sgroupsizesismetby assigning primary caregiverstopromotethecontinuityofcareandtoensurethehealth,safety,supervision,growth,anddevelopmentofeachchild.ThisplanmaybesubmittedtoEECforstatewidereviewandapproval.EEClicensingstaffwillmonitorthisalternativeplantoensurecompliance.Additionalrestrictionsmaybe required ifthe programfails to complywiththese provisions.

Duringcircletime,twogroupsofchildrenmaybecombinedforabrieftimeprovidedthatstaffparticipateintheactivitytogetherwiththechildrenandthattheactivityisappropriateforcombinedgroups(forexample,singingorpresentingtheday'sactivities).Ifcircletimeexceeds15minutesoriftheactivityisnotappropriateforacombinedgroup,thegroupsmaynotbecombined.

Therequiredgroupingsmaybeexceededontheplaygroundasawholeifthereissufficientsquarefootage.Programsmustmaintainthehealthandsafety ofallthechildrenrelativetotheiragesanddevelopmentalstages.

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