The legislature’s Regulation Review Committee (RRC) recently voted to approve updates to regulations affecting daycares, including updates that increase class size ratios.

The newly approved regulations make three changes to class size regulations. First, they solidify a 2019 statutory change passed by the legislature that allows children aged two years and nine months to enter preschool classrooms with the written authorization of a parent. Second, they change the ratio of teachers to students from one to four to one to five for two-year-olds. For school-aged children, the ratio of teachers to students will increase from one to ten to one to fifteen.

The changes are intended to increase the number of available daycare spots in an effort to address Connecticut’s childcare shortage.

Staff from the Office of Early Childhood (OEC), which oversees the licensure and regulation of daycares, faced questions from RRC members prior to the approval vote.

RRC Chair Rep. Lucy Dathan, D-Norwalk, first asked commissioner Beth Bye to explain the ratio changes and then questioned whether the increases were in line with other states.

According to Bye, it is difficult to directly compare numbers because each state defines age groups differently. Bye provided statistics on toddler class-size ratios, which includes the two-year-old age group, and noted that a number of other states do have a one-to-five ratio.

Dathan also asked whether OEC was aware if other states have had issues with increased ratio sizes.

Elizabeth Proietti, director of the OEC’s division of licensing, said that they had some information about injuries or illnesses reported by other states. She also noted that the new regulations expand the reporting on injuries and illnesses that daycares are required to report to OEC.

The previously enacted regulations required injuries or illnesses that required hospitalization to be reported. The newly passed regulations add the reporting requirements to include concussions, fractures, and second- and third-degree burns. They also require such incidents to be reported by the next business day.

OEC also faced questions about current wait lists for daycare spots and estimates about the number of spots the increased ratios will open.

In response to a question from Dathan about current wait lists for daycare age groups, Bye stated that OEC estimates the state’s current capacity for infant and toddler spots is about 35 percent of what’s needed. For three and four year olds, she stated capacity is at 100 percent but not necessarily in the right place.

RRC co-chair Sen. John Kissel, R-East Granby, noted that daycare regulations have square footage regulations–3,500 stare feet per child–that will impact the increased ratios. He asked Bye if it was fair to state that some facilities will still have to maintain existing ratios because of the size of their facility.

Bye noted that it was, and added this was particularly true for custom-built facilities, which tend to be for-profit and chain-run daycares. She stated they will have a harder time maximizing profits and accommodating the new ratios. However, she estimated that over half of daycares are in “leftover spaces,” such as church basements, and will be able to take advantage of the new ratios. She also noted that daycares utilizing these types of spaces tend to be “more informal nonprofits.”

Bye also noted that the daycare shortage is not entirely driven by a lack of available childcare spots. She said that workforce is a bigger problem and is the primary factor driving the shortage. She further stated that increased ratios should help address this, especially at the beginning and end of the day.

Kissel also noted that he believed Gov. Ned Lamont’s view is that if the increased ratios weren’t adopted, it would move people towards types of care, including care by family and unlicensed care, that is not in the state’s purview, and that it is better to have “facilities and folks available” even if they are not perfect.

Bye, who had spoken with Lamont, said that was accurate.

Kissel further noted that, while he would not hesitate to oppose a regulation if he felt it overstepped the agency’s statutory authority, he did not believe that was the case. He said he supported the changes and believed the legislature’s Education Committee had examined the issue and “made a conscious decision to devolve authority to determing ratios” to OEC. To reassure the public that OEC was within its statutory authority, Dathan also added that proposed regulations go through the Legislative Commissioners’ Office and the attorney general.

Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Columbia, also asked multiple questions about how the changes might affect eastern Connecticut, where childcare shortages are greater than elsewhere in the state. Bye stated that some of it will depend on the configuration of spaces in that area. She added that she knew there were workforce issues that should be helped by the changes.

Osten also expressed concern about the potential safety impacts of the ratio changes. Ultimately, she voted to approve them but added that she would be watching what happens in childcare centers.

The ratio and reporting changes were not the only updates made to existing daycare regulations.

The updates to the regulation also expand first aid requirements for both commercial daycares and home daycares. They clarify that at least one staff member of a home daycare is required to have CPR certification. The updates also clarify that both commercial daycare and home daycare staff must obtain first aid and CPR certifications that use hands-on demonstration.

In addition, the new regulations require written verification of ongoing professional development training. As of April 1, 2025, annual training is required to include new content, including content related to emergency preparedness, infectious disease prevention, prevention of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), safe sleep practices, medication administration, and other topics related to the health and safety of children. Staff who have previously fulfilled health and safety training prior to April 1, 2025, are exempt from this requirement.

The regulations also update requirements for education consultants, formerly early childhood education consultants, who are not staff of a daycare but are available to daycare staff for “advice and support regarding the educational content and practice” of daycare programs. Daycares are required to annually develop and implement consultation plans.

In addition to making clarifying changes to the educational and experiential requirements education consultants must have, the new regulations also add new duties to consultants’ role, including reviewing illness and accident reports quarterly; reviewing daily plans, curriculum documents, and educational policies; observing program staff’s interactions and use of materials and equipment; and providing feedback to daycare directors.

The new regulations also update the frequency with which OECD is required to make unannounced visits to inspect daycares and home daycares. Previously, both OECD and local health inspectors were required to make unannounced visits for inspections at least every two years. The new regulations require OECD to perform these inspections annually while still requiring health inspectors to visit every two years.

Other change include:

• updates requirements for education consultants, previously called early childhood education consultants, to eliminate degree requirements and instead require them to submit an application with the OEC and meet other regulatory requirements
• creates a definition of a field trip, which includes both an activity conducted away from the childcare facility and an activity conducted within the facility in a space not inspected or approved by OEC.
• updates the definition of meals to require that three food components be served for breakfast, five for lunch, and five for supper.
• creates a definition for non-program staff who do provide services, such as a storytime reader, but do not provide direct care to children or do not have unsupervised access
• updates requirements for the development of plans and procedures to handle “multi-hazards,” which include fire, weather-related emergencies, natural disasters, and acts of terrorism
• updates paperwork requirements daycares are required to keep for staff and submit to OEC, including paperwork related to previous employment and background checks
• clarifies that group sizes can exceed twenty children on field trips and during outdoors play for school-age children
• clarifies that daycares cannot release medical or personal information of children and families without written permission from parents, except in the case of an emergency or following a request from certain government entities
• clarifies that a school-age child’s school health assessment can fulfill immunization and physical examination requirements for daycares
• Removes an exemption to physical examination requirements for religious beliefs of the parents and a six-month exemption for children who have been displaced due to a state of emergency and who cannot access health records
• adds an exemption to health assessment requirements for homeless children and foster children, temporarily allowing them to temporarily attend daycare
• also adds a similar exemption to immunization requirements for homeless and foster children
• eliminates religious exemptions to required immunizations and makes updates in keeping with the current state laws on vaccination requirements
• requires meals and snacks provided by daycares to meet federal nutritional regulations
• specifies that home daycares can operate in either a commercial or residential facility
• makes updates to requirements for lead inspections
• makes updates to clarify that vaping is prohibited in or on the grounds of daycares
• adds a requirement that indoor climbing equipment have a shock-absorbing surface under and around it and stipulates that carpeting does not count
• clarifies acceptable shock-absorbing surfaces for use around outdoor play equipment
• prohibit children under two years old from having access to digital devices
• removes a requirement to petition OEC to administer certain medications

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