To amend section 3301.56 of the Revised Code with respect to staff member to child ratios and maximum group sizes when Montessori preschools combine preschool-aged children and kindergartners.

Section 1. That section 3301.56 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec. 3301.56.  (A) The director of each preschool program shall be responsible for the following:

(1) Ensuring that the health and safety of the children are safeguarded by an organized program of school health services designed to identify child health problems and to coordinate school and community health resources for children, as evidenced by but not limited to:

(a) Requiring immunization and compliance with emergency medical authorization requirements in accordance with rules adopted by the state board of education under section 3301.53 of the Revised Code;

(b) Providing procedures for emergency situations, including fire drills, rapid dismissals, tornado drills, and school safety drills in accordance with section 3737.73 of the Revised Code, and keeping records of such drills or dismissals;

(c) Posting emergency procedures in preschool rooms and making them available to school personnel, children, and parents;

(d) Posting emergency numbers by each telephone;

(e) Supervising grounds, play areas, and other facilities when scheduled for use by children;

(f) Providing first-aid facilities and materials.

(2) Maintaining cumulative records for each child;

(3) Supervising each child's admission, placement, and withdrawal according to established procedures;

(4) Preparing at least once annually for each group of children in the program a roster of names and telephone numbers of parents, guardians, and custodians of children in the group and, on request, furnishing the roster for each group to the parents, guardians, and custodians of children in that group. The director may prepare a similar roster of all children in the program and, on request, make it available to the parents, guardians, and custodians, of children in the program. The director shall not include in either roster the name or telephone number of any parent, guardian, or custodian who requests that the parent's, guardian's, or custodian's name or number not be included, and shall not furnish any roster to any person other than a parent, guardian, or custodian of a child in the program.

(5) Ensuring that clerical and custodial services are provided for the program;

(6) Supervising the instructional program and the daily operation of the program;

(7) Supervising and evaluating preschool staff members according to a planned sequence of observations and evaluation conferences, and supervising nonteaching employees.

(B)(1) In each program the maximum number of children per preschool staff member and the maximum group size by age category of children shall be as follows:

(2) When age groups are combined, the maximum number of children per preschool staff member shall be determined by the age of the youngest child in the group, except that when no more than one child thirty months of age or older receives child care in a group in which all the other children are in the next older age group, the maximum number of children per child-care staff member and maximum group size requirements of the older age group established under division (B)(1) of this section shall apply.

(3) In a room where children are napping, if all the children are at least eighteen months of age, the maximum number of children per preschool staff member shall, for a period not to exceed one and one-half hours in any twenty-four hour day, be twice the maximum number of children per preschool staff member established under division (B)(1) of this section if all the following criteria are met:

(a) At least one preschool staff member is present in the room;

(b) Sufficient preschool staff members are present on the preschool program premises to comply with division (B)(1) of this section;

(c) Naptime preparations have been completed and the children are resting or napping.

(4) Any accredited program that uses the Montessori method endorsed by the American Montessori society or the association Montessori internationale as its primary method of instruction and is licensed as a preschool program under section 3301.58 of the Revised Code may combine preschool children of ages three to five years old with children enrolled in kindergarten. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in division (B)(2) of this section, when such age groups are combined, the maximum number of children per preschool staff member shall be twelve and the maximum group size shall be twenty-four children consistent with the accreditation standards of the society or association.

(C) In each building in which a preschool program is operated there shall be on the premises, and readily available at all times, at least one employee who has completed a course in first aid and in the prevention, recognition, and management of communicable diseases which is approved by the state department of health, and an employee who has completed a course in child abuse recognition and prevention.

(D) Any parent, guardian, or custodian of a child enrolled in a preschool program shall be permitted unlimited access to the school during its hours of operation to contact the parent's, guardian's, or custodian's child, evaluate the care provided by the program, or evaluate the premises, or for other purposes approved by the director. Upon entering the premises, the parent, guardian, or custodian shall report to the school office.

Section 2. That existing section 3301.56 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.