North Carolina Administrative Code

10A NCAC 09 .3003 PROGRAM ATTENDANCE POLICY When a child is absent for more than three consecutive days, the site-level administrator shall contact the child's parent to discuss the absences and determine whether the parent wishes the child to remain in the NC Pre-K Program. The …

10A NCAC 09 .3005 CHILD HEALTH ASSESSMENTS (a) A health assessment shall be on file at the NC Pre-K site within 30 days after a child enters the NC Pre-K program and the assessment may be no more than 12 months old at the time of program entry. The health assessment shall include…

10A NCAC 09 .3006 DEVELOPMENTAL SCREENING (a) All children enrolled in the NC Pre-K program shall receive a screening assessing the development of each child, across all domains, to ensure the child is growing and developing according to developmental milestones, unless the child…

10A NCAC 09 .3007 EARLY LEARNING STANDARDS AND CURRICULA (a) NC Pre-K programs shall use North Carolina's Early Learning and Development Standards (and subsequent editions), as developed by a group of state and national early childhood experts. The Early Learning and Development …

10A NCAC 09 .3008 formative ASSESSMENTS Classroom staff shall be required to conduct on-going formative assessments to gather information about each child's growth and skill development, and how each child processes information and solves problems during the learning process. Cla…

10A NCAC 09 .3009 Staff-to-Child Ratio and Class Size The classroom shall not exceed a maximum staff-to-child ratio of one to 10 with a maximum class size of 20 children, with at least one teacher and one teacher assistant per classroom. A classroom of 10 children or less is not …

10A NCAC 09 .3010 Family Engagement NC Pre-K programs shall develop a plan for family engagement consisting of strategies designed to develop partnerships with families that promote shared decision-making opportunities. These opportunities shall include: (1) An enrollment orienta…

10A NCAC 09 .3011 NC PRE-K SITE-LEVEL Administrator Qualifications (a) Administrators of NC Pre-K sites shall have: (1) A NC Principal's License, or (2) A North Carolina Early Childhood Administrator Credential (NCECAC) Level III, or (3) hold a Bachelor's Degree in any field with…

10A NCAC 09 .3012 NC PRE-K TEACHER EDUCATION, LICENSURE AND CREDENTIALS (a) All teachers shall hold, or be eligible to hold a North Carolina (NC) Birth through Kindergarten (B-K) Initial or Continuing License or a NC Professional Educator's Initial or Continuing License with a B-…

10A NCAC 09 .3013 NC PRE-K Teacher Assistant Education and Credentials (a) All teacher assistants shall have a high school diploma or its equivalent and shall either: (1) hold a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential; or (2) hold or be working toward an Associate Degree or …

10A NCAC 09 .3014 NC PRE-K Substitute Staff (a) When a member of the NC Pre-K teaching staff is unable to work, due to illness, other health related conditions, disability, death or natural or man-made disasters, a substitute staff person shall be provided to maintain the staff-t…

10A NCAC 09 .3015 NC Pre-K teacher and teacher assistant Standards NC Pre-K teachers and teacher assistants shall provide child-directed and teacher-directed instructional day-to-day learning activities for children enrolled in the NC Pre-K program for at least 32.5-hours a week.…

10A NCAC 09 .3016 Professional Development Requirements North Carolina licensed administrators, teachers, and teacher assistants employed by public and nonpublic schools shall participate in professional development consistent with the level of education and type of educator lice…

10A NCAC 09 .3017 CHILDREN WITH UNIQUE NEEDS AND CHALLENGING BEHAVIORS (a) For purposes of this Rule, "challenging behavior" shall mean any repeated pattern of behavior, or perception of behavior, that interferes with or is at risk of interfering with optimal learning or engageme…

Section .3100 – CARE FOR SCHOOL-AGE CHiLDREN DURING STATE OF EMERGENCY 10A NCAC 09 .3101 SCOPE The rules in this Section apply to care for school-age children, as defined by 10A NCAC 09 .0102(42), during the declared State of Emergency to coordinate the State's response and prote…

10A NCAC 09 .3102 DEFINITIONS The terms and phrases used in this Section are defined as follows: (1) "Public schools" means: (a) any building that is approved for school occupancy and that houses school-age children as part of the public school system during the school year; or (…

10A NCAC 09 .3103 PUBLIC SCHOOLS Pursuant to G.S. 110-86(2)(e), public schools are not child care and are, therefore, exempt from licensure. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, all NC Pre-K programs, as defined in Section .3000 of this Chapter, and Developmental …

10A NCAC 09 .3104 ADDING SPACE AT LICENSED CENTERS FOR CARE OF SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN If an operator of a licensed child care center wishes to use additional space not previously approved for child care, regardless of location, to care for school-age children during the Declaration …

section .3200 - standards for two through five star rated Licenses 10a ncac 09 .3201 scope (a) This Section shall apply to all child care facilities that have met requirements for a one-star rated license and choose to apply for and earn a rated license of two-stars or higher. (b…

10A NCAC 09 .3202 application for a two through five star rated license (a) After a licensed child care facility has demonstrated compliance with applicable child care requirements while operating with a temporary license as set forth in Rules .0403 and .1701 of this Chapter, the…

10a ncac 09 .3203 program assessment pathway for child care centers (a) This Rule shall apply to child care centers, including centers located in a residence, that choose to earn a two through five-star rated license using the program assessment licensure pathway. (b) As used in …

10a Ncac 09 .3204 program assessment pathway for family child care homes (a) This Rule shall apply to operators of family child care homes that choose to earn a two through five-star rated license using the program assessment licensure pathway. (b) For purposes of this Rule, "str…

10a ncac 09 .3205 classroom and instructional quality pathway for child care centers (a) This Rule shall apply to child care centers that choose to earn two through five star rated license using the classroom and instructional quality licensure pathway. (b) As used in this Rule, …

10A NCAC 09 .3206 Classroom and instructional quality pathway for family child care homes (a) This Rule shall apply to family child care homes that choose to earn two through five-star rated license using the classroom and instructional quality licensure pathway. (b) For a family…

10A NCAC 09 .3207 accreditation and head start pathway for child care facilities (a) This Rule shall apply to child care facilities that choose to earn a two through five-star rated license using the accreditation and Head Start licensure pathway. (b) As used the Rule, "educators…

10a ncac 09 .3208 enhanced staff/child ratios for a rated license for child care centers (a) This Rule shall apply to evaluating the staff/child ratios and maximum group sizes for a rated license for child care centers. (b) Enhanced staff/child ratio means that the center shall c…

10a ncac 09 .3209 reduced, enhanced staff/child ratios for a rated license for child care centers (a) This Rule shall apply to evaluating the staff/child ratios and maximum group sizes for a rated license for child care centers. (b) Enhanced staff/child ratio means that the cente…

10A NCAC 09 .3210 enhanced space requirments for child care centers In order for a child care center to meet enhanced space requirements: (1) There shall be at least 30 square feet inside space per child per the total licensed capacity and 100 square feet outside space for each c…

10a ncac 09 .3211 Enhanced education standards for child care center on-site administrators (a) This Rule shall apply when evaluating the education of an on-site administrator, as defined in G.S. 110-86(2a), in a child care center. (b) A child care provider meets the two-star edu…

10a ncac 09 .3212 enhanced education standards for child care center lead teachers (a) This Rule shall apply when evaluating the education of a lead teacher, as defined by G.S. 110-86(5a), in a child care center. (b) A child care provider meets the two-star education standard for…

10a ncac 09 .3213 enhanced education standards for child care center teachers (a) This Rule shall apply when evaluating the education of a teacher, defined in Rule .0102(47) of this Chapter, for a child care center. (b) A child care provider meets the two-star education standard …

10a ncac 09 .3214 enhanced education standards for program coordinators in child care centers that provide care for school-age children (a) This Rule shall apply when evaluating the education of a program coordinator for a child care center that serves school-age children, as req…

10A ncac 09 .3215 enhanced education standards for group leaders in child care centers (a) This Rule shall apply when evaluating the education of a group leader for a child care center, as required by Rule .2510(c) of this Chapter. (b) A child care provider meets the two-star edu…

10a ncac 09 .3216 enhanced education standards for administrators of child care centers that only provide care for school-age children (a) This Rule and not Rule .3211 of this Section shall apply when evaluating the education of an administrator, as defined by G.S. 110-86(2a), fo…

10a ncac 09 .3217 Enhanced education standards for family child care home operators (a) This Rule shall apply when evaluating the education of a family child care home operator. (b) A child care provider meets the two-star education standard for a family child care home operator …

10a ncac 09 .3218 competency evaluations (a) This Rule shall apply to operators of a family child care home, lead teachers, and teachers that choose an education standard option in this Section that requires successful completion of a competency evaluation. (b) Successful complet…

10A NCAC 09 .3219 FAMILY AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STANDARDS FOR CHILD CARE CENTERS (a) The rule shall apply to child care centers that have earned a two through five-star rated license using the program assessment licensure pathway or the classroom and instructional quality licen…

10A ncac 09 .3220 family and community engagement standards for family child care home operators (a) This rule shall apply to operators of a family child care home that have earned a two through five-star rated license using the program assessment licensure pathway or the classro…

10A ncac 09 .3221 continuous quality improvement (cqi) standards (a) This rule shall apply to child care facilities that have earned a two through five star rated license using the program assessment licensure pathway or the classroom and instructional quality licensure pathway i…

10A NCAC 09 .3222 maintaining the star rating (a) A representative of the Division may make announced or unannounced visits to facilities to assess on-going compliance with requirements of a star rating after it has been issued. When the division representative documents violatio…

10A ncac 09 .3223 how an operator may request or appeal a change in rating (a) An operator may request a change in the star rating, including licensure pathway selection, by following the procedures in Rule .3202 of this Section. (b) After an initial four or five-star rating is i…

10A NCAC 09 .3224 recognition of quality initiatives (a) A child care operator may choose to request one or more areas of recognition to accompany the issuance of a two through five-star rated license earned through compliance with any licensure pathway requirement of this Sectio…

10A NCAC 09 .3225 Accrediting organizations and star rating equivalency (a) The Commission shall reassess an accreditation's star-rating equivalency, as set forth in Rule .3207 of this Section, if the standard for earning the accreditation is revised and may increase or decrease …

10A NCAC 09 .3226 Approval of formative assessments (a) The Commission may approve formative assessments to support implementation of classroom and instructional quality licensure requirements set forth in Rules .3205 and .3206 of this Section upon request. (b) The Commission sha…

SECTION .0100 - IDENTIFYING AND GENERAL INFORMATION 10A NCAC 10 .0101 SCOPE The rules in this Chapter shall apply to child care facilities that participate in the Subsidized Child Care Assistance Program. History Note: Authority G.S. 143B-10; 143B-153; S.L. 1985, c. 757, s. 155(q…

10A NCAC 10 .0102 DEFINITIONS In addition to the terms defined in G.S. 110-86(2), (3), (4a), (6), (7), and (8), the following definitions shall apply to this Chapter: (1) "Child with special needs" means: (a) a child who is determined by the Division of Public Health, Children's …

SECTION .0200 - REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PURCHASE OF CHILD CARE 10A NCAC 10 .0201 APPLICABILITY History Note: Authority G.S. 143B-153(2a); Eff. October 26, 1979; Amended Eff. April 1, 2001; January 1, 1987; April 1, 1985; Pursuant to G.S. 150B-21.3A rule is necessary without substant…

10A NCAC 10 .0202 PAYMENT RATES History Note: Authority G.S. 143B-153(8)a; Eff. January 1, 1987; Amended Eff. April 1, 2001; August 1, 1994; July 1, 1990; Repealed Eff. March 1, 2019.

10A NCAC 10 .0203 PayMENT RATES FOR SUBSIDIZED CHILD CARE (a) With the exception of Centers that are certified as developmental day centers by the Division, the payment rates for child care facilities shall be limited to the market rate or the child care facility's private rate, …

SECTION .0300 - SUBSIDIZED CHILD CARE aSSISTANCE PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS 10A NCAC 10 .0301 DEFINITION OF FUND History Note: Authority G.S. 143B-153(2a); S.L. 1985, c. 479, s. 95-97; Eff. October 26, 1979; Temporary Amendment Eff. July 1, 1982, for a period of 120 days to expire on O…