Preschool Ratios

varies from state-to-state and with their level of certification. You can go on your state's website to find out!

I used to be in the child care industry myself, teaching 6 weeks to 3 years (NOT in the same class).

For Texas, I believe the answer is 9 to one. But you can go to the licensing website and find out for sure. All the regulations are available on line. Also, your ratio is based on your YOUNGEST child. THe ratio goes up with the age group. 9 to 1 for 2 yo, and I think 12 to 1 for 4 yo.

THere also is an 18 month age limit. THere can be no more than 18 months between your oldest and youngest children, so most likely, your 2yo cannot be in with your 4yos.

You can anonymously report your center.

It is normal to have all three in one class, even in a preschool, although some schools require kids to be 3 and potty trained, it differs from school to school. Check with your state as to the number of children allowed per adult, it is usually somewhere around 7 to 10 depending on ages. As far as I know potty training has no bearing on it, only age.

I am enclosing the Oklahoma DHS Child Care Regulations for Child Care Centers, this is the Official Licensing Regulations booklet that each child care worker is responsible for knowing. If the licensing worker came in and a teacher was not in compliance then I held them responsible. I made sure each of my teachers had these books and that they were reading them, I quizzed them at staff meetings. Plus if you look at some of the room requirements the question you asked, the ratio's are required to be posted in every classroom, in Oklahoma anyway.

Each state is different but not too different. I recommend you google child care licensing regulations and see if you can find the ones for Texas. You need to understand mixed ratios though, they can be confusing.

The youngest child in the class sets the number of children you can have. For instance if you have 12-3 year olds and a baby joins the group you can only have 6 children maximum with no more than 2 babies. Those other children have to be moved to another classroom.

The group you are describing: 2 yrs. and older is on page 57, no more than 4-2 yr. olds and then the class total cannot be over 12 children. If there are 2 certified teachers, again each state decides what that means, then the classroom can have 24 2 yr. olds and older.

Page 14 is the ratio's given in words
There is an appendix chart, L-4, pg 57, it shows the mixed ratio numbers and the regular numbers where all the kids are in one age group.

http://www.okdhs.org/NR/rdonlyres/C###-###-####-C005-45D1...

To be really honest...at the end of the day, when Directors are sure that licensing isn't going to be coming in they may fudge a bit and let more teachers go home to save money but kids should never be in danger and the Director, or person in charge, should be available to assist any teacher who is caring for the majority of kids still not picked up. I would never put over 1 extra with a teacher, and that would NOT be with a younger group, I might put an extra 3 yr. old in with the school agers for example, if they were immature I might put them in with the toddlers for a few minutes but never a baby in with a huge group of kids.

During the regular day there is NO excuse for not keeping the ratios correct. Although, there is an exception. If the children are napping and the 3 and up teachers stay in the building they can take a few minutes break and leave 1 teacher in their room.. But they cannot leave the building in case the fire alarms go off or something.

The preschool I have my daughter in is 3-5 year olds; 15 children, 1 teacher, and 1 teachers assistant.

Call the licensing department. Also when you request an investigation through them, they keep everything confidential and your name won't be disclosed. Good for you for seeking help. I'm surprised parents haven't complained. Good Luck!

As a former preschool teacher, I found the TX State Minimum guidelines for daycares online:

http://www.daycare.com/texas/centers.pdf

It's a 2006 version but I know the standfards have not changed that much. The teacher/child ratios are as follows:

Child age # per Teacher
0 – 11 months 4
12 – 17 months 5
18 – 23 months 9
2 years 11
3 years 15
4 years 18
5 years 22
6-8 years 26
9 – 12 years 26

Also the maximum age difference between the oldest and youngest that can be in the room at ay given time is 18 months. That means your youngest child can not be more than 18 months younger than the oldest one. The exception to that if for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening when there are not enough children to separate into groups yet and everyone is coming and going.

Hope that helps!

Edit, once additional note, your daycare center should have a copy of the state minimum standards. You can always ask to see it and if you have any concerns you can report to the state board anonymously.