The Florida Senate

The private prekindergarten provider must be a child care facility licensed under s. 402.305, family day care home licensed under s. 402.313, large family child care home licensed under s. 402.3131, nonpublic school exempt from licensure under s. 402.3025(2), or faith-based child care provider exempt from licensure under s. 402.316.

The private prekindergarten provider must:

The private prekindergarten provider must have, for each prekindergarten class, at least one prekindergarten instructor who meets each of the following requirements:

Each prekindergarten instructor employed by the private prekindergarten provider must be of good moral character, must be screened using the level 2 screening standards in s. 435.04 before employment and rescreened at least once every 5 years, must be denied employment or terminated if required under s. 435.06, and must not be ineligible to teach in a public school because his or her educator certificate is suspended or revoked.

A private prekindergarten provider may assign a substitute instructor to temporarily replace a credentialed instructor if the credentialed instructor assigned to a prekindergarten class is absent, as long as the substitute instructor is of good moral character and has been screened before employment in accordance with level 2 background screening requirements in chapter 435. The Agency for Workforce Innovation shall adopt rules to implement this paragraph which shall include required qualifications of substitute instructors and the circumstances and time limits for which a private prekindergarten provider may assign a substitute instructor.

Each of the private prekindergarten provider’s prekindergarten classes must be composed of at least 4 students but may not exceed 18 students. In order to protect the health and safety of students, each private prekindergarten provider must also provide appropriate adult supervision for students at all times and, for each prekindergarten class composed of 11 or more students, must have, in addition to a prekindergarten instructor who meets the requirements of paragraph (c), at least one adult prekindergarten instructor who is not required to meet those requirements but who must meet each requirement of paragraph (d). This paragraph does not supersede any requirement imposed on a provider under ss. 402.301-402.319.

Before the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year, the private prekindergarten provider must have a prekindergarten director who has a prekindergarten director credential that is approved by the department as meeting or exceeding the minimum standards adopted under s. 1002.57. Successful completion of a child care facility director credential under s. 402.305(2)(f) before the establishment of the prekindergarten director credential under s. 1002.57 or July 1, 2006, whichever occurs later, satisfies the requirement for a prekindergarten director credential under this paragraph.

The private prekindergarten provider must register with the early learning coalition on forms prescribed by the Agency for Workforce Innovation.

The private prekindergarten provider must deliver the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program in accordance with this part.

A bachelor’s or higher degree in early childhood education, prekindergarten or primary education, preschool education, or family and consumer science;

A bachelor’s or higher degree in elementary education, if the prekindergarten instructor has been certified to teach children any age from birth through 6th grade, regardless of whether the instructor’s educator certificate is current, and if the instructor is not ineligible to teach in a public school because his or her educator certificate is suspended or revoked;

An associate’s or higher degree in child development;

An associate’s or higher degree in an unrelated field, at least 6 credit hours in early childhood education or child development, and at least 480 hours of experience in teaching or providing child care services for children any age from birth through 8 years of age; or

An educational credential approved by the department as being equivalent to or greater than an educational credential described in this subsection. The department may adopt criteria and procedures for approving equivalent educational credentials under this paragraph.