Staffing and group size requirements

1. The number of staff members and their responsibilities must reflect program requirements and individual differences in the needs of the children enrolled, and may permit mixed-age groups, if necessary. Service personnel engaged in housekeeping and food preparation may not be counted in the child to staff ratio for periods of time when they are engaged in housekeeping or food preparation. 2. a. The operator shall ensure that the child care center is sufficiently staffed at all times to meet the child to staff ratios for children in attendance and that no more children than the licensed capacity are served at one time. The minimum ratio of staff members responsible for caring for or teaching children to children in child care centers and maximum group size of children must be: (1) For children less than eighteen months of age, one staff member may care for four children, a ratio of .25 in decimal form, with a maximum group size of ten children; (2) For children eighteen months of age to thirty-six months of age, one staff member may care for five children, a ratio of .20 in decimal form, with a maximum group size of fifteen children; (3) For children three years of age to four years of age, one staff member may care for seven children, a ratio of .14 in decimal form, with a maximum group size of twenty children; (4) For children four years of age to five years of age, one staff member may care for ten children, a ratio of .10 in decimal form, with a maximum group size of twenty-five children; (5) For children five years of age to six years of age, one staff member may care for twelve children, a ratio of .08 in decimal form, with a maximum group size of thirty children; and (6) For children six years to twelve years of age, one staff member may care for twenty children, a ratio of .05 in decimal form, with a maximum group size of forty children. b. When there are mixed-age groups in the same room, the operator shall ensure: (1) The maximum group size is consistent with the: (a) Age of the majority of the children; or (b) Highest number of children in the youngest age group; (2) When children age zero to eighteen months are in the mixed-age group, the maximum group size does not exceed ten children; (3) The mixed-age group does not exceed the acceptable ratio pursuant to subdivision d of subsection 2 of section 75-03-10-08 and the maximum number of children per staff member pursuant to subdivision a of subsection 2 of section 75-03-10-08; and (4) If the mixed-age group contains the maximum number of children per staff member pursuant to subdivision a of subsection 2 of section 75-03-10-08, the mixed-age group may only contain additional older children. c. When there is a mixed-age group, the number of children in each age category is multiplied by the corresponding ratio number, converted to decimal form, and carried to the nearest hundredth. To determine the number of staff members responsible for caring for or teaching children necessary at any given time, numbers of staff members for all age categories are added, and any fractional staff member count is then rounded to the next highest whole number whenever the fractional staff member count amounts to thirty-five hundredths or more. If lower than thirty-five hundredths, the fractional amount is dropped. 3. If a child with special needs is admitted to the child care center, the child's developmental age level must be used to determine into which age group the child should be placed for determining child to staff ratios. 4. The operator shall ensure that a child with special needs requiring more than usual care and supervision has adequate care and supervision without adversely affecting care provided to the other children in the child care center. 5. An operator licensed for at least two years may apply for a waiver of the required ratio and maximum group size, not to exceed .25 decimal point per group. The department shall consider demonstration of need, health and safety of children, age of children, number of children, and licensing history of the operator in determining whether to approve the application for a waiver. The department may deny an application for waiver and may revoke a waiver granted under this subsection. The decision to deny or revoke a waiver is not an appealable decision. The department shall review each waiver granted under this subsection annually to determine if the circumstances which led to granting the waiver continue to exist.