Gov. Mike DeWine announced on Thursday that child care services can reopen on May 31.
Child care services in Ohio have been limited since March 26 when the state issued measures to combat the coronavirus.
For these places to resume, they must follow the state’s required safety protocols. Some of these measures include having staff members and children wash their hands multiple times a day, taking kids’ temperature daily, and having staff members work at reduced staff to child ratios.
These are the ratios child care services must follow when they open:
- One child care staff member per four infants with no more than six children in the room.
- One child care staff member per six toddlers with no more than six children in the room.
- One child care staff member per nine preschool children with no more than nine children in the room.
- One child care staff member per nine school-age children with no more than nine children in the room
“Our goal is to have the safest child care system in the nation – one that nurtures the health and continued growth and development of our children and one that protects the health and safety of our child care workers and teachers,” DeWine said. “Moving forward, child care is going to look different for children, parents, and teachers. But we must get this right, or we run the risk of exposing more people to COVID-19.”
Ohio will use more than $60 million the state received from the CARES Act to help reopen child care providers, according to the governor’s press release.
DeWine also said Ohio is funding a research project to examine best practices for controlling the spread of COVID-19 in child care settings, the governor’s press release explained.
In reaction to the news, Brenda Harris, the co-owner of Nanny’s Multi-level Learning Center in Cinncinatti, told WLWT that she “was anxiously awaiting the announcement.”
“Parents are anxious to go back to work and have child care, and we’re anxious as well,” she said. “Really happy to be open, but unfortunately, I’m going to have to turn some families away… We won’t be able to accommodate everybody.”
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of Star News Digital Media. If you have any tips, email Zachery at [email protected].
