164

164.1 A Director of a Child Development Center shall:

(a) Have earned a bachelor's or more advanced degree from an institution accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, with a major in child and family studies, child development, child studies, developmental psychology, early care and education, early childhood development, early childhood education, early childhood special education, early childhood studies, early learning and development, elementary education, or human development and at least one (1) year supervised experience working with children in a licensed District of Columbia Child Development Center or its equivalent in another jurisdiction;

(b) Have earned a bachelor's or more advanced degree from an institution accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, with a major in a field other than child and family studies, child development, child studies, developmental psychology, early care and education, early childhood development, early childhood education, early childhood special education, early childhood studies, early learning and development, elementary education, or human development, with at least twelve (12) credit hours, or its equivalent as determined by OSSE, in child and family studies, child development, child studies, developmental psychology, early care and education, early childhood development, early childhood education, early childhood special education, early childhood studies, early learning and development, elementary education, or human development and at least one (1) year supervised experience working with children in a licensed District of Columbia Child Development Center or its equivalent in another jurisdiction;

(c) Have earned the equivalent of a bachelor's or more advanced degree from an institution outside of the United States and submitted a foreign credential equivalency report as required by OSSE, with:

(1) A major in child and family studies, child development, child studies, developmental psychology, early care and education, early childhood development, early childhood education, early childhood special education, early childhood studies, early learning and development, elementary education, or human development; or

(2) A major in a field other than child and family studies, child development, child studies, developmental psychology, early care and education, early childhood development, early childhood education, early childhood special education, early childhood studies, early learning and development, elementary education, or human development, with at least twelve (12) credit hours, or its equivalent as determined by OSSE, in child and family studies, child development, child studies, developmental psychology, early care and education, early childhood development, early childhood education, early childhood special education, early childhood studies, early learning and development, elementary education, or human development; and

(3) At least one (1) year supervised experience working with children in a licensed District of Columbia Child Development Center or its equivalent in another jurisdiction; or

(d) For an AMS/AMI accredited Montessori School Director, meet the requirements of Subsection 164.1(a), (b), or (c) and have earned a Montessori certificate issued by a program accredited by the Montessori Accreditation Commission for Teacher Education, National Center for Montessori Education, American Montessori Society, or the Association Montessori International, and have at least one (1) year of supervised occupational experience working with children in a licensed District of Columbia Child Development Center or its equivalent in another jurisdiction.

100164.2 For the purpose of Subsection 164.1, a period of supervised occupational work experience shall include an average of no less than twenty (20) hours per week. One (1) year of occupational experience is equal to one thousand (1,000) hours. Multiple qualifying periods may be aggregated in order to achieve the required total.

164.3 Any person who was employed as a qualified Center Director in a licensed Child Development Center in the District of Columbia on December 2, 2016, and who continuously served as such since December 2, 2006 or earlier, may submit an application to OSSE for a continuous service certification that waives the qualification requirements in Subsection 164.1. OSSE may deny a certification request when a Facility for which the Center Director was responsible received one or more summary suspensions or failed to abate or resolve the deficiencies, or for any other reason consistent with ensuring the health, safety and welfare of children and staff.

100164.4 A private, parochial, or independent school is exempt from complying with the requirements of this Subsection 164.1, if the school:

(a) Is an elementary/secondary educational program, as defined in this chapter;

(b) Cares for infants and toddlers on the same premises as the instructional program offered to school-age children;

(c) Is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting body or other body satisfying similar standards as approved by OSSE; and

(d) Does not offer subsidized child care.

100164.5 For the purposes of this chapter, an early childhood development or early childhood education program shall include the following subject areas:

(a) Growth and development of infants, toddlers, or preschoolers;

(b) Care and education of children with special needs;

(c) Health and physical education of infants, toddlers, or preschoolers;

(d) Therapy through play;

(e) Language development or early childhood literacy;

(f) Children's literature;

(g) Arts education;

(h) Child, adolescent, educational, or abnormal psychology;

(i) Nutrition for children;

(j) Family development;

(k) Methods of teaching;

(l) Classroom management;

(m) Child behavior management;

(n) Curriculum programs and activities for infants, toddlers, and/or

preschoolers;

1. (o) Educational evaluation and measurement;
2. (p) Early Childhood Development or Youth Development administration;
3. (q) Culturally responsive care and education; and
4. (r) Any other area as determined by OSSE.

100164.6 Prior to, or within one (1) year of employment as a Center Director, and annually thereafter, a Center Director shall successfully complete, a total of no less than twelve (12) hours of professional development, from a source approved by OSSE, in the following core knowledge areas with regard to program management, operations, and evaluation:

1. (a) Approaches and techniques to plan, organize, and use available resources;
2. (b) Effective strategies for working productively with staff and community resource individuals and agencies;
3. (c) Techniques to conduct program analysis and evaluation and to implement program improvements;
4. (d) Interpersonal development and communication skills, including team building, collaboration, and conflict management principals and skills; and
5. (e) Fiscal planning and business management practices.

100164.7 Interim or acting Center Directors shall meet the requirements in this section.

100164.8 Center Directors shall attend, upon the request of OSSE, periodic regulatory compliance review sessions presented by or under the auspices of OSSE.

100164.9 Center Directors shall be responsible for the supervision, program planning, and administration of the Child Development Center and its staff, consistent with the Center's written operational policies and procedures, and shall assume the following responsibilities:

1. (a) Ensure compliance with the requirements of this chapter, and with all applicable Federal and District of Columbia laws and regulations;
2. (b) Select and supervise qualified staff and volunteers in accordance with the District of Columbia Career Guide for Early Childhood and Out-of School

-Time Professionals;

1. (c) Implement pre-service, orientation and annual health and safety training for each staff member and volunteer, as required;
2. (d) Monitor when staff members complete pre-service, orientation, and annual training, verify their completion, and record staff members' training in a document that is available during inspections;
3. (e) Ensure that adult-to-child ratios are maintained in compliance with this chapter at all times;
4. (f) Ensure that parents and guardians continuously have an opportunity to be involved in the program and in the activities of the Center;
5. (g) Report unusual incidents as defined by and in accordance with this chapter;
6. (h) Ensure that all staff members maintain a current CPR and First Aid certification;
7. (i) Participate in on-going in-service training and continuing education requirements, as required;
8. (j) Report evidence of child abuse and neglect that comes to the Facility staff's attention, in accordance with this chapter;
9. (k) Supervise curriculum implementation at the Center; and
10. (l) Ensure that staff members have access to ongoing professional development through registration in the District of Columbia's Early Learning Professional Development Information System.

164.10

A Center Director shall be physically present at the Facility at all times during the Center's peak hours of operation when the majority of children are present, and maintain on the premises a record of days and actual hours of work at the Facility, except that a Center Director may be intermittently absent from the Facility if he or she has designated an authorized representative of the Facility, who shall be physically present at the Facility when the Center Director is absent and shall assume full responsibility for the Facility's management and operations in such absence of the Center Director. The authorized representative shall either meet all the requirements of Section 164, excluding the requirements at 164.1, or be a teacher provided the teacher has been employed for a minimum of five (5) years in their role.

100164.11 Center Directors shall ensure that the written contingency plans for their Facility is applicable for all hours of the day, days of the week, and weeks of the year. If a written contingency plan designates a school or any other Facility as an emergency location, and the school or other Facility is not available for all days and times during which the Child Development Center operates, the written contingency plan shall identify a secondary emergency location and include a building use agreement for the secondary emergency location.

SOURCE: Final Rulemaking at 63 DCR 14640 (December 2, 2016); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 72 DCR 008518 (August 1, 2025).