Child Care Commission Begins Legislatively-Mandated Review of Rules at March Meeting, Engage in Robust Debate about Ratio Requirements in New QRIS Pathway 2

The NC Child Care Commission began their “periodic review of [licensing] rules” during their March 9 quarterly meeting, as required by state law.  (State legislators passed a bill requiring all state rulemaking bodies to conduct a comprehensive review of all rules every 10 years.) This will be the second time since a law passed requiring it that the Commission has undertaken the review and they started with rules relating to school-age care, attempting to modify current licensing rules to work better for older children. 

In addition to reviewing proposed new rules and/or changes targeted at school-age care, Commissioners addressed a broad range of topics important to licensed child care providers, including: 

• Curricula review and approval
• Rules changes forced by the passing of House Bill 412 (regulatory-reform bill that included several NCLCCA objectives)
  
• Corporal punishment rule changes (for religious/faith-based programs that have a waiver from lawmakers to use it, with conditions)
  

A new commissioner appointed by Governor Josh Stein was also introduced – Daniella Patton, who now fills a “parent” seat.  Ms. Patton introduced herself her fellow commissioners and staff as a Latina parent of an autistic child with special needs, who is humbled and honored to be a part of the Commission and give voice to the importance of quality child care for families like hers so that parents can work and be sure that their children are safe, well-cared for and have their special needs met.  (There has been a lot of turnover on the Child Care Commission recently – NCLCCA will share an updated member list in a future edition of The Voice when it’s available from the Commission or DCDEE.)

Additionally, newly named DCDEE Deputy Director Jeanna Ramsey gave the Division’s report to the Commission, which is typically presented by Director Candace Witherspoon.  Before joining DCDEE in early 2026, Ms. Ramsey was director of Wake County Public Schools Preschool Programs. 

Curricula review & approval – Commissioner Alicia Fink, who leads the Child Care Commission’s relatively new subcommittee created to reform the curricula review-and-approval process, gave a well-received update on the subcommittee’s progress, to date.  The subcommittee began its work in November of last year and in less than four months (despite Christmas and New Year holidays) have completed a review of ALL of the curricula submitted by the Commission’s first deadline.  Of 68 submissions, all but 17 were approved and four of those that were not approved are undergoing a second review.  The recommended list of approved curricula was voted on by the Commission, which accepted the subcommittee’s recommendations.  DCDEE told providers on the Commission who asked that the updated list of approved curricula would be published and shared soon.  (NCLCCA will include the list in a future edition of The Voice when it’s made available.) 

Rule changes to align with House Bill 412/Session Law 2025-36 – Commissioners were presented proposed rule changes during their meeting by DCDEE to align current licensing rules with a new law passed last year by state legislators.  More than one commissioner raised questions about whether the proposed new rules accurately represented changes made by the House bill that passed, which generated robust discussion.  Ultimately, the Commission rescinded a prior vote to publish the proposed new rules until they could further explore and better answer relevant questions at their next meeting.  Under scrutiny are changes to maximum group sizes for infants and toddlers and whether the increases the law allows (as long as space and ratio requirements continue to be met) should be applied to both “minimum [ratio] requirements” AND “voluntary enhanced [ratio] requirements.”  It is the position of NCLCCA that the changes should be applied to both ratio categories, according to legislative intent and the actual bill language.  (NCLCCA worked on this bill as it made its way through the legislative process.)  We will continue to monitor this discussion and report outcomes to our members and advocates when questions are resolved.  This is an important issue to providers because, according to DCDEE, 21% of 1,000 providers surveyed anonymously are already using new group sizes and/or Lead Teacher supervisory allowance (two groups instead of one) that the legislation makes possible.  

Provider issues raised about Pathway 2 in New QRIS – Another topic of discussion during the Child Care Commission’s recent meeting that was not on the agenda was Pathway 2 in the new QRIS/Rated License, which is the “Classroom and Instructional Quality Pathway.”  Concerns from program operators were voiced by several commissioners, who explained that providers are exacerbated that the 4-star requirements in Pathway 2 require programs to meet “enhanced ratio” requirements (though not “highest enhanced”) and make “enhanced space” optional, which is a major change from the old QRIS that could harm many programs who opted for “enhanced space” over “enhanced ratio” to gain a 4-star Rated License.  It was emphasized that many concerned program operators had built, leased or upfitted buildings specifically to meet “enhanced space” requirements for higher star ratings and are now essentially stuck with the extra space that won’t gain them extra quality credit.  Furthermore, it was stressed that in the current labor environment with an ongoing staffing crisis and stagnant subsidy reimbursement rates, now is a terrible time to require more stringent ratios for star ratings that drive higher reimbursements.  Passionate debate on this topic resulted in the Commission deciding to continue the discussion at their next meeting in order to accomplish the work already scheduled for the March 9 meeting.  

Member feedback requested! – NCLCCA will keep our members and advocates updated about these Child Care Commission discussions and outcomes as we monitor and report on future meetings.  In the meantime, however, before the Commission’s next meeting in May, we would like to hear from you!  If you have an opinion about what you’ve read here and would like to weigh in with your association, send us an email to advocacy@nclcca.org.

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