An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 21 – Child Care Centers/Preschools

and meets the teacher aide requirements may also supervise 24 napping children in place of the teacher as long as other teachers are immediately available at the preschool. 2802

5. T ODDLER C OMPONENT If a child care center establishes a toddler component for children between the ages of 18 months and 36 months, the teacher-child ratio for that toddler component cannot exceed six toddlers to one teacher. 2803 This ratio increases to 12 toddlers when either two teachers or one fully qualified teacher and one teacher aide are present. 2804

E MPLOYEE I SSUES

Section 4

A. H IRING Preschools must ensure teachers and other hired staff meet the education, qualification, and health requirements outlined in Section 3 of this Chapter. The procedures to hire preschool staff and teachers are basically the same as those for K-12 private schools. Preschools should refer to the Hiring Chapter of this workbook for basic hiring information. B. E MPLOYEE C ONTRACTS As a best practice, preschools should enter into contracts with each employee to identify each party’s duties and responsibilities during the course of employment. Employee contract issues, including employee evaluations, are discussed in detail in other chapters of this workbook. C. R EPORTING & M ANDATED R EPORTING Preschool teachers and employees are subject to the same mandated reporting requirements as those for K-12 teachers and employees. 2805 Preschool administrators and employees must complete mandated reporting training within the first 90 days he or she is employed at the facility and every two years following the date which he or she completed the initial mandated reporter training. 2806 Please see the Mandated Reporting Chapter of this workbook for more information. In addition to the mandated reporting requirements, the preschool must also provide DSS with a written report of any suspected physical or psychological abuse of any child. 2807 D. E MPLOYEE H ANDBOOK Preschools should prepare an employee handbook setting forth their employment policies and procedures and all educational, health, fingerprinting, background check, and other requirements for their employees. The handbooks should also set forth all duties and procedures for preschool staff, including those related to health services, food services, cleaning, and handling emergencies. If the preschool is accredited by the National Association for the Education of

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 640